Atrocity
by PyroYoshi
Summary: Silent Hill calls those with sin on their shoulders, but can it prevent someone from committing a crime? A 26 year old woman named Lisa becomes one of the latest pawns of the town. Story is better than the summary, so reviews are highly appreciated. Deals with violence, gore, sexual themes, racism, homophobia, and animal cruelty, especially in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1: the abyss

Her cold hazel eyes narrowing, Lisa's patience with the woman in front of her was wearing paper thin. When coming to a fast food restaurant, one is supposed to know, or at least have an idea of what they want before they come inside.

And yet, this bleached blonde behemoth in front of her remained indecisive, changing her mind every fraction of a second. "I want a number seven, grilled...actually, no. scratch that. I want a number five, but instead of regular pickles, can I get the special groovy ones? And can you like, caramelize the onions? Oh, and make it super sized!"

Lisa frowned at her misfortune. She was hungry, and she had a long drive ahead of her. She stopped at the Silent Hill Happy Burger joint because she wanted food immediately, not because she wanted to wait aeons for a burger and fries. She was just about to tell the woman to hurry it up when she finally said, "I'll eat it here," and paid for her food.

Finally, Lisa thought to herself, placing her order in a span of about four seconds. She got her usual: a quarter pounder burger with a side of seasoned curly fries and a large Coke. It wasn't standard run of the mill fast food, either. It was actually good, and that's why she liked it. McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell and all the other franchises couldn't even begin to compare.

Already munching on the fries, Lisa scanned the place for a free table. The place was packed, no thanks to the large group of children present. Evidentially one of them chose to have their birthday party here, as there were unopened presents on the tables, and some poor bastard in a Mayor M. Moo outfit was singing happy birthday to the birthday kid. "Oh man, that is simply humiliating," Lisa mused to herself and made her way to the store's second dining floor.

The second floor wasn't as chaotic as the first, but there were still plenty of people up here, mostly adults. Lisa guessed that they wanted to seek refuge from all the noisy children downstairs. She sat down in an empty booth and began to demolish her food.

After eating, she decided to simply lounge around for a bit. She was going to visit her parents, who lived about fifty miles past Silent Hill. Overall, she disliked driving. It made her anxious, and whenever she drove, she was unable to relax. Try as she might, she'd find herself tensing up again within mere minutes.

She rummaged about in her purse, withdrawing a compact mirror. A complete lipgloss fiend, Lisa reapplied a fresh layer for some additional shine. She adjusted her pink Playboy hat, tied her brunette hair into a ponytail, and leaned back in the booth, thinking about the best course of action to take. She had three hours before she had to be at her parent's doorstep, and since it would only take an hour to get there, that left her with two to use at her leisure. She could shop, but since Silent Hill was a tourist town, she'd probably find nothing but tourist shops selling, "I vacationed in Silent Hill!" T shirts. Cruising for guys was also out, as she had a bad feeling that a majority of the locals were either overtly religious, a 2/10 on the sexy meter, or both. Option number three was to take a nap right there at the table. Choosing the third choice, Lisa pushed her tray to the side, laid her head on the table and shut her eyes. She was kind of tired anyway, so she wasn't all that surprised when she found herself drifting off to sleep within ten minutes.

Sometime later, Lisa was jolted awake by a sharp pain in her neck. "Oh, crap!" she exclaimed, jumping up and fearing that she had slept for hours. A quick check of her phone proved that thought to be false. "Okay, it's only one thirty. No need to panic." she said to herself and stood up.

It was only then that she noticed how quiet it was up here. There were no screaming children, no chattering adults, no bustling of trays, no beeping of deep fryers, nothing. "Eh? Did they close? What the hell, did they not realize I was still up here?" she fumed. Purposely knocking her tray to the floor, she looked around in confusion. She was the only person up here, and the lobby seemed dirtier than it had an hour ago. All the garbages were overflowing, there were cups and wrappers laying in miscellaneous locations, and various types of soda and sauce had been spilled, hardened, and plastered to the floor. "Wow. Somebody desperately needs to be fired." Lisa commented on the mess before her attention was drawn to the nearest window.

Putting both her hands on the glass, she peered out the window, observing the sudden change in the weather. When she had arrived in Silent Hill, it was sunny, without a single cloud in the sky. Now, that sunny sky had been devoured by a mass of dark grey. Thick whitish fog had rolled in, and it was opaque enough that she had a difficult time reading the signs on the buildings across the street.

Lisa's confusion escalated. "Okay...this is really weird..." she mumbled and gathered her things. She paused at the top of the staircase, peering down. Nothing but silence and a strangely ominous feeling greeted her. Descending the stairs, she took in her surroundings, only to see that the first floor was deserted as well. "Screw this, I'm leaving." she turned to leave, but her anger and annoyance quickly returned when she tugged on the door only to find it locked. "Locked?! This is bullshit!" she exploded, storming in front of the registers. "Hey! Is anybody back there? The door is locked and I can't get out!" she shouted. No answer. "Hello? Is there ANYBODY here?" she called, exasperated. "I take that as a no," she said upon receiving only deafening silence as an answer.

Taking matters into her own hands, she strode behind the counter. She had worked in fast food before, and she knew that all stores had a master key that would unlock the doors. All she had to do was find it.

For a brief moment, she considered trying to cram herself through the tiny drive through window, but she knew she'd never fit. Her butt would surely get stuck. Abandoning that plan and extending her middle finger to the camera, she walked further into the store, pausing to examine things.

There was an order for a number two on the drive thru monitor, but there were no customers in sight. Furthermore, the drive thru timer was currently at 100, 000 seconds and counting. That was definitely out of the ordinary, as those types of timers usually stop at 999 seconds. There was no food made, as the holding cabinets were all off and seemed to have a sticky residue on them.

Lisa scanned the office, but there was nothing of immediate interest to her. She searched through all the drawers for a key to the door, but found nothing except papers, files, and office supplies. A quick scan of the break room proved to be fruitless, and the side door in the dry stock area was locked tight.

Feeling exasperated, Lisa sighed. Was she walled in? She pulled out her iphone, trying to think of what to tell her parents regarding her predicament. "Oh hey mom, sorry I'm going to be late, I've been locked inside a Happy Burger joint, which is completely vacant in the middle of the day for some reason." Yeah right. Who would believe that? Her parents sure as hell wouldn't. They normally got on quite well, but if they heard that absurd story they'd just accuse Lisa of avoiding them. Preparing for the ensuing speech, she dialed their home number. The dial tone sounded twice, then abruptly went dead. "Huh? No bars?" Lisa questioned. Sure enough, she had no reception. "You have GOT to be kidding me! This is 2012, I could go to the poorest nation in Africa and get reception! What is going on here?!" She was about to toss her phone away in frustration, but thought better of it.

"Okay Lisa, think." she told herself, trying to get a grip on these past events. This whole thing struck her as strange and off kilter, that's for sure. For one, why would this restaurant close in the middle of the day, especially with how busy it had been a mere hour ago? That made absolutely zero sense. As far as she knew, there wasn't any holiday or celebration going on that would require businesses to close early. And how on earth could she not get a signal? In this day and age, 98% of the world had cellphone coverage, and Silent Hill wasn't some off the map hick town that was 50 years behind in the technology department. No, it was about as normal as a decent sized town could get. She had even driven past an Apple store on her way to Happy Burger, so the fact that she couldn't get cell phone service was baffling. Still, there had to be a perfectly logical explanation for all of this.

Lisa slipped her phone back into her purse and was about to continue her search when she noticed that the cooler door had a key in the lock. Taking her chance, Lisa turned the key, which was covered in some sort of sticky clear fluid that was oozing out of the keyhole. The door stuck at first, but with a second tug she wrenched it open and was bombarded with a putrid stench. "Agh!" she physically recoiled in disgust. All the product had spoiled and gone rotten. The air was thick and fetid, with probably hundreds of flies buzzing about. Trying to swat the nasty things away from her, Lisa covered her nose and opened the door to the freezer.

The air in here was even more foul, she could barely breathe. She didn't dare open her mouth in danger of swallowing a dozen flies. All the boxes of meat were damp and dripping rancid juice, which was pooling on the floor in some places. She didn't truly freak until she noticed all the maggots swarming the repugnant product. There had to be thousands of them, squirming around on the boxes and boring tunnels in the rotten meat. Releasing a high girly scream, she bolted towards the door on the other side of the room, turning the handle and stumbling outside. Feeling utterly filthy, she immediately frisked herself to make sure she hadn't made contact with a single maggot. Those putrid creatures revolted her to no end. She didn't have any problem with blood, be it her own or someone else's, but with the exception of snakes, she was terrified of anything without legs. Maggots, leeches, slugs and the like all reduced her from an intimidating twenty six year old woman to a squealing school girl in a micro second.

Relieved to be maggot free, Lisa sighed and looked around. Her attention was drawn to a stationary car in front of the drive thru order box. Slowly approaching it, she gazed inside. The car was empty, the exterior rusted in some areas, and upon closer inspection, she realized that all four tires were completely flat. This vehicle had been sitting here for a very long time. "Okay..this is impossible." Lisa said matter of factly. "An hour and a half ago, this place was busy. There is no way this car has been sitting here for years. No way. There is simply no way." she reassured herself. As much as she told herself that there had to be a reason for this, she was beginning to doubt herself as she saw other long idle rusting vehicles in the parking lot. Perhaps this was all a dream, and she was still fast asleep in the booth at Happy Burger. "Yeah, that could be it. Maybe I'm having one of those really weird self aware, interactive dreams." Putting that theory to the test, Lisa slapped herself across the face. The stinging pain was very real, so this must be real as well.

Deciding to go searching for answers, Lisa walked down the street, uneasiness rapidly growing. Where was everybody? All the stores were dark and desolate, there were no cars on the road, and nobody walking on the street. She didn't even hear any birds. It was almost as if the entire town was devoid of life, like every single resident had gotten up and left at the same time.

She walked until her path became obstructed, and was agape when she saw why. The road itself simply ended, the edge broken. Her confusion skyrocketed when she saw that not only did the road abruptly end and drop off into an abyss, the buildings near it had an entire side ripped off. Cautiously hovering near the edge, Lisa got down on her hands and knees and peered into the chasm. "That is a long way down..." she couldn't even see the bottom, as it was completely shrouded by the fog.

There was a pile of old bricks nearby, so she picked one up and dropped it into the pit, waiting to hear it smash onto the bottom. No such sounds greeted her. Fearing that it was a bottomless pit, she backed up and rose to her feet.  
Nervously pacing back and forth, biting her nails, Lisa tried to wrap her head around this predicament. She was in a seemingly deserted town, and the road just ended. Not only that, but it apparently dropped off into a bottomless pit, something thought to be fictional. That was definitely enough to freak her out, and leaving immediately was her best bet. She would walk back to her car, leave and never look back, as long as the other roads were intact. But what if all the roads out of town were like this, then what? She didn't want to think about it.

Walking back to the Happy Burger, her foot connected with a small container. Bending over to snag it, she picked up the canister. It seemed to be a beverage of some kind, as the bottle was brown and the label simply said, 'health drink'. "Yuck. I don't think so." she said and tossed it away. She knew better than to consume some random item found on the street, especially a 'health drink', which was probably laced with drugs.

Arriving back at the parking lot, Lisa searched for her car, only to realize that it wasn't where she left it. "This is not okay. Where is my car?" Lisa asked herself in a surprisingly calm voice. The chance that it had been stolen, though small, was possible. She had locked it up tight, and it was equipped with a car alarm, making it a tough one to steal. Not only that, but Silent Hill didn't strike her as the kind of town with a high number of expert car thieves. She was just about to silently seethe to herself when she noticed a small yellow post it note laying on the ground in the parking space where her car had been.

'I have towed your car. To reclaim it you must come pick it up at the Silent Hill car compound and pay the fee.'

Lisa face palmed. "Oh what a delight. How the hell am I going to find this place? Just walk around until I find it?" Fearing that was her only option, she made a mental note of her surroundings. If she could remember certain buildings and landmarks, she might be able to get around alright.

The road up ahead ended just as abruptly, the right side completely obliterated, which forced her to turn left. She walked down an alley which ran behind several businesses. As she plodded along, she couldn't help but feel the uneasiness increasing. Something about this was wrong, yet she couldn't put her finger on it. It's not like she had never seen fog before, but here it had a very foreboding feel, like it was concealing something horrible. The complete lack of life didn't help either. It just didn't make sense. Even if this was a ghost town, surely there would be wild animals prowling around. What could have happened to them?

Lisa's thoughts were interrupted as a muffled whinnying sound drifted from ahead. A horse? In the middle of an abandoned town? The sound met Lisa's ears again, and she decided to investigate. She had always loved horses, so she needed to see if it was hurt or restrained. She would always take the time to assist an animal in need.

The whinnying became louder, and just as she was about to register that it sounded a little odd, her phone erupted with static. "Huh? What's wrong with this piece of junk?" she questioned. It still didn't have any reception, but the static blared no matter how many times she touched the screen or adjusted the volume.

Something moved behind her.

Startled at the noise, Lisa whipped her head around, looking in the direction it came from. Whatever was making those noises was coming closer, and the sound of something being pushed along the ground accompanied it. The animal's sounds were becoming clearer, and Lisa realized that she had been right, they didn't sound normal. They were deep, distorted almost. No regular horse made noises like that.

If the fog wasn't an indication that something wasn't right, this was. Lisa's mind went into over drive, telling her to turn around and run as fast as she could, that this wasn't right, that she needed to get away for her own safety, but she didn't.

Before she could move, the unseen animal showed itself, and upon sight of it, her blood ran cold. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out when she opened her mouth.

The thing lurched towards her, its head flopped over to the side, pushing itself forwards using its hind legs. It was horse like in appearance, its head covered completely with a latex mask fused over its face, its front legs tied and useless, its tail made from strips of bloody flesh torn from its own body.

Lisa stood in shock, frozen to the spot. She tried to run, but her legs refused to work, all she could do was stand there in disbelief. Things like this don't exist, she didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. There was no such thing as monsters, she knew that. And yet here it was, shambling towards her.

Finally snapping out of her shock, Lisa darted to the side right as the monster leaped at her, colliding with the brick wall she had just been standing in front of. It moaned and seemed a bit dazed, giving her some time. Frantically, Lisa scanned the area for something, anything, to use as a weapon. Her eyes settled on some large cement chunks, so she picked one up. She probably wouldn't be able to throw it far, but it was better than nothing.

With all her might, she hurled the cement block at the monster, hitting it right in its exposed, skinless side. She panicked a little when that didn't slow it, but she wasted no time in equipping a second block. This one connected against the monster's head with a sickening crack, dropping it to the ground. Carefully approaching the downed beast, she picked up the block again and sent it smashing down on the back of it's skull, killing it.

Blood began to pour from the wound, and Lisa dropped the brick, slowly taking a few steps back. Her heart was pounding, and her hands were shaking. Had she killed it, or was it merely stunned?

She waited a few minutes, trying to calm herself, but at the same time getting ready, just in case it got back up again. It was then that she noticed the lack of static. After she had bashed the demonic horse over the head, it had ceased.

Taking that as a cue that it was safe for the meantime, Lisa crept over to the fallen monster, trembling a bit as she did so. What was that thing? She had never seen or heard of such an animal. Monster was the only word to describe it.

Still a little shaken up, she slowly withdrew her phone and took a picture of it, taking in all the grotesque details. Both its neck and its front legs seemed to be broken, with the front limbs being bound with some sort of black rope. It wore latex boots on its hind legs, and the flesh over its ribcage had been torn off, the bloody strips forming its tail.

Lisa couldn't look at it any longer. This monster was dead, but she knew that if there was one, there would be another nearby. Finding means of defense was top priority.

There was a dumpster near her, and to her luck, a steel pipe sticking out of it. She pulled it out, examining it. While it wasn't very heavy, it was quite long and might be a bit awkward to swing. Still, it was better than nothing. She gave a few test swings, and concluded that while a bit clunky to wield, it could pack a strong punch. Hoping she wouldn't need to use it, she began to calm down a little and walked on.

The alley ended, and she found herself on another industrial avenue. More distorted horse whinnies drifted from up ahead, and when Lisa gazed through the fog, she saw another hellhorse shuffling around the intersection. Deciding not to go that way, she slunk of in the opposite direction before the horrible thing saw her. This side of the street was seemingly monster free, so she let her guard down a little.

She only advanced a few steps before another sound greeted her, this one a mechanical tinkering. This was immediately followed by the sound of someone cursing to themselves. Lisa's attention was instantly drawn to the noises, following them. Through the fog, she made out the shape of a beat up car with its hood up, and the figure of a young man hunched over the engine. "A person!" Lisa gasped, running towards him. Startled, he looked at her, and for the second time in less than fifteen minutes, Lisa almost fell flat on her ass.

She knew him. It was Dallas, one of her co workers who was almost ten years younger than her. He was about six feet tall but slender, and very into the Gothic style, with blue eyes, long black hair that fell several inches past his shoulders, and was clad in a calf length black trench coat. Additionally, he wore knee high buckle up boots, a black collar, and had nose ring. He looked at her quizzically, clearly confused by her presence.

"Wow, I'm so glad to see another person! I never thought I'd see someone I knew here," Lisa said, breaking the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"I pose you the same question, Lisa. I thought this was a ghost town. Sorry if I'm coming off as a bit cold, but this past hour has been more than a little strange. I was just driving, right? Then my car dies on me, and when I got out to look at it, everything was like this." Dallas explained.

"It's so odd," Lisa continued. "Something very similar happened to me. I took a nap, and when I woke up, the sunny weather was gone. Not only that, but the people where gone! It's like this place has been abandoned for years!"

"I know. Some of the roads just end. This town is fucked up! Did you see those...things?"

"You mean the horse monsters?"

Dallas nodded. "I never thought I'd say this, but our parents lied to us when they said there was no such thing as monsters. We've seen them, but who's going to believe us?"

Lisa shrugged. "Let's not worry about that now. You said your car died on you, right?"

"Yeah. I can't figure out what's wrong. I'm not exactly a mechanic." Dallas glared at the car engine, looking very perplexed.

"Well, if it's any help, I found this note in the Happy Burger parking lot, saying that my car has been towed and taken to the impound lot. I've still got the keys in my purse, all we need to do is find my car, and get out of here." Lisa offered. She was tempted to say, "as long as the roads haven't all been destroyed." but she wanted to remain somewhat optimistic. "The only problem is, I have no idea where the impound lot is, and it's not like there's anyone else around to ask for directions. I guess it's going to be a bunch of trial and error."

"I'm pretty good with names, if I can remember all the store names on every street, I think we'll be able to maneuver better. I can have a photographic memory with certain things, like numbers and the names of places. For example, my fourth grade locker combination was 1-26-18, and when I was a kid, I'd go visit my aunt sometimes, and for awhile she lived on Cemetery street, which was only about two blocks long. Also-"

"That's absolutely fascinating, but we won't accomplish anything by standing around." Lisa interrupted him. "Do you have a weapon?"

"I've got this." Dallas picked up the iron pipe that had been sitting at his feet. It was more heavy duty than the one Lisa had, but shorter.

They decided to get a move on, going the opposite direction from which they came. They made some small talk as they walked along. "Why were you driving through Silent Hill? It's a very touristy place, and I can't imagine you being the tourist type." Dallas commented, motioning to Lisa's urban clothing.

"I was on my way to visit my parents. We don't talk much, but I wanted to pay them a visit. I'd never driven this way before, as continuous road detours forced me to take this route." Lisa explained. "You?"

"I heard there was a creepy old hospital around here somewhere, and I wanted to explore it. It may be cliche, but I love creepy abandoned places. Or, I did, until about two hours ago. It's amazing how quickly your opinion of something can change."

"Yeah, it really is. I'll tell you, I'm never going to watch another horror movie in my life." Lisa said, shuddering at the mere thought of her DVD collection.

A sudden burst of static interrupted their conversation, making them both tense. "I don't see anything." Dallas said, scanning the area. Something that felt like a bird talon collided with the back of his head, and he got a glimpse of an aerial monster out of the corner of his eye. Before he could turn around, it was out of view.

"Where did it go?" Lisa glanced around in every direction.

"There! To the upper right!" Dallas pointed to it, getting his pipe ready. The monster swooped down, barreling towards Lisa, and he swung the pipe, feeling it connect with the creature. It was enough to wound it, but not to kill it, as it attempted to fly away. Due to its injury, it flew awkwardly and slowly, allowing Lisa and Dallas to make out a bound beak and chained feet, before vanishing from sight.

"That thing didn't hit you, did it?" Dallas asked.

"No, but thanks for getting rid of it." Lisa said. "How about we try and run from most of these things? If we try to fight every grotesque demon we come across, we're going to get killed, or at least severely injured."

"Good idea, Lisa. I'd rather not get mauled by a demon, and I don't think you feel like getting dismembered either." Dallas said. Looking past Lisa, he detected movement on the other side of the road, becoming distracted immediately. "Hey, Lisa, look across the street. I see someone over there!" he said excitedly.

Upon glancing behind her, Lisa saw he was right. Through the window, they could see a woman sitting at the bar in the restaurant across the street. She appeared the be in her mid forties, had curly shoulder length brown hair, and was clad in a blue shirt and a mid length black skirt.

The two of them crossed the street and entered the restaurant, approaching her wordlessly. The woman didn't notice them, she was staring off into space and savoring a cigarette. "Miss?" Lisa asked, causing her to jump.

"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me! I thought I was alone here." she exclaimed, seemingly flustered. "Sorry. We saw you from across the street, and we were wondering if you might know where the car impound lot is." Lisa said.

"Sure I do. You're headed in the right direction. The road is out, of course, so you'll have to make a detour through that apartment building. You can't miss it, its right at the end of the road here, and the impound lot is several blocks past it. You'll need a key to open the front door, but lucky for you, I've got one. I don't need it anymore, so you're welcome to have it." she placed an old key on the counter.

"Do you live there?" Dallas asked her.

"No, not anymore. I was born and raised here, but I moved away a long time ago." the woman took a long drag from her cigarette. "I'm Victoria, by the way. It's nice to finally get a little company around here."

"Nice to meet you, Victoria." Lisa said. "I'm Lisa, and that's Dallas."

"Nice to meet you too. You guys are an interesting couple. Still, I've seen stranger," Victoria mused.

"Actually we're just co workers." Dallas corrected her. "Why don't you come with us? It's not safe here."

For the first time since they entered, Victoria turned to properly face them and sighed. "I appreciate your offer, but I'm going to have to decline. I'd just slow you down. Besides, I know why I'm here. This town called me, and I'm not leaving until I've done what I came here for." she said.

Lisa sat down beside her. "Are you sure? The three of us can get to my car and leave this place. Because he's right you know, there are monsters out there."

"Trust me, I know. I've met plenty." Victoria lit another cigarette. "I have experience with them. So take my word for it, I know what I'm doing. I'll be safe." she smiled faintly.

Dallas turned to look at her, captivated by her vibrant cerulean colored outfit. "Victoria, what do you do for a living?"

"You're the curious type, aren't you? I like that. To answer your question, I'm a real estate agent. I have to look nice for my job. I can't give off bad vibes. If I showed a house looking like a prostitute or a homeless junkie, I wouldn't get any sales."

"Oh. Okay. I was going to guess something like that."

"I hate to ruin your conversation, but we really need to get going." Lisa said. "Victoria, this is your last chance to come with us." Victoria shook her head. "No. I'll pass. I'll leave when I'm done here."

"Alright, suit yourself, but I think you're really going to regret that decision. Come on Dallas, let's go." Lisa got up, snatched the key and walked towards the door.

"It was nice meeting you kids. Perhaps we'll encounter each other again in the near future. I hope you find what you're looking for." Victoria said. "Yeah, you too." Dallas said before following Lisa out the door.

"She seemed a little unhinged, don't you think? I mean, why would she want to stay in a place like this?" Lisa questioned when they stepped back outside.

"I think she's hiding something. Something really big." Dallas said. "But never mind that now, we're here."

They stopped in front of the large apartment building, which loomed less than a foot beyond the abyss. Lisa opened the front door with the key, put it in her purse for safekeeping, and nudged the door open a crack.  
The front lobby was dark, but several windows allowed for dim beams of light to stream in. The door to the superintendent's office was ajar, so Dallas moseyed in to search for keys. The key rack was empty, the desk was cluttered with uninteresting papers, and a search of the drawers provided fruitless. The only thing he found was a health drink of some sort in a brown bottle, which he wasn't even going to think about consuming, as he detested the flavor of energy drinks.

"Find anything?" Lisa questioned from outside the room.

"No. Just a repugnant looking health drink of some sort. I bet it would have all sorts of messed up side effects."

"Let's try and find a way out then. I just looked down the hall, and the back door is completely blocked off."

"What do you mean? Is it locked?"

"Not quite. Come take a look at this."

Stricken by curiosity, Dallas looked down the hall in the direction Lisa was pointing, taking in the odd sight.  
Ten metal bars were sticking up from the floor, impaling the ceiling. If that wasn't enough, a maze of barbed wire was tangled around the poles. There was even a dead rat caught up in it.  
"That seems...excessive." Dallas said.

"Tell me about it. There's no way we're going to get through. I guess the only way to go is up." Lisa gestured towards the staircase.

It was a little darker on the stairs, so they carefully ascended to avoid falling. The main second floor hall was dreary, with water damage tainting many areas of the wall. Not surprisingly, the doors were all locked.

Lisa gritted her teeth. "This is getting annoying. Every fucking door is locked! What a surprise. I swear, this place is toying with us!"

"That door looks open." Dallas pointed out a door way at the end of the hall, room 220.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed open a crack, but it had a chain and a padlock fastened to it, preventing it from opening further. Both the lock and the chain were quite old, and looked to be a bit on the brittle side. A few hard cracks from a lead pipe could likely destroy it.  
Deciding to test that theory, Dallas took a hard swing at the lock, seeing a crack form in the handle. A second bashing shattered the ancient lock, and the door creaked open. Before advancing, he listened for signs of life inside the room, hearing only silence. It seemed to be monster free, so he slunk in, with Lisa right behind him.

Much to their surprise, the apartment was still furnished. There was a beat up sofa with a television perched right in front of it, and a shelf stocked full of VHS tapes. The kitchen unit was absolutely filthy, as the sink was full of moldy old dishes sitting in murky water, and a suspicious semi solid reddish substance was dripping from the fridge.

The strangest thing about the room was the fact that there was a large circular hole in the ceiling. The edges were smooth, not jagged, and there were no chunks of plaster or wood laying around. It was as if someone had deliberately cut a hole in the ceiling.

"Do you think you could get up there if you climbed up on one of these shelves?" Lisa questioned. "You're taller than I am, you could go up first, and then help me up."

"Okay, sounds good." Dallas examined the shelf nearest to the hole. To his displeasure, the top display shelf was full of ceramic clown figurines, and they were lined up in a V formation, which almost made it look like they were watching him. He knocked them all off on purpose, sending them shattering onto the floor. "I hate clowns. Creepy bastards," he mumbled to himself and climbed the shelf, monkey style.  
It appeared to support his weight, so he threw his pipe up first, then gripped the edges and hoisted himself into the room above.

He suddenly heard static and tensed, searching frantically for his pipe. He couldn't see any hostile beings in the room, but that didn't mean they weren't there. What if it was an invisible monster, then what? He'd be screwed.  
Before he could ponder anymore bad situations, he heard Lisa call out to him. "Dallas, give me a hand! There are things in here with me!"

Dallas raced to the edge of the hole and looked down, seeing Lisa standing on the shelf directly below. Several small teddy bear like creatures were scaling the shelf, squealing as they reached for Lisa with their clawed fingers. Each one seemed to have the rotting flesh of a real bear cub sewn over its own head, with patches of missing fur, and stitches that were coming loose.

Lisa kicked the one nearest to her, sending it flying back, before looking up again. "Hold on a second, I have an idea!" As she took hold of Dallas' hand, she used her feet to forcefully knock the shelf over, preventing the creatures from getting up. One of them cried out as the bulky shelf toppled over on top of it, pinning it to the ground, and the rest scattered to avoid the same fate. The static ceased a few seconds later.

Once she was safe, Lisa couldn't help but smile at her companion. "Thanks. I really hate to sound like some weak damsel in distress, but I'm not sure what I'd do if you weren't here to aid me."

"Don't say that. You aren't some little prissy thing like our boss. You're one of the most badass girls I know." Dallas smiled back at her.

"Absolutely. Not trying to inflate my own ego too much, but it's true. Bitches don't mess with me," Lisa said, feeling a little foolish almost immediately after saying that last part. It wasn't a lie, as she could take most other women in a fight, but she liked to speak in a more intelligent way. Changing the subject, she made a proposal. "What do you say we sit down for a few minutes?"

Before Dallas could answer, Lisa sat down at the small kitchen table. "This feels good. Come on, sit down for a bit." she mused. "These chairs are surprisingly comfortable. Are you going to come over here or what?"

"In a second." Dallas said, making his way over to the counter, which demanded his immediate attention. There was a wooden knife block on the counter with six slots, but it only housed five knives. The whole thing was coated in dust, but it had been wiped away right over the empty slot. "One of these knives is missing." he said to himself.

"So what? Come join me." Lisa offered.

Instead of listening to her, Dallas opened the fridge, sniffing and inspecting the contents. The most noticeable thing was a jug of orange juice so old that it was swamp green, thick, and chunky. There was some moldy meat and fruit, but there was also a very fresh looking slice of pizza on a paper plate. "Lisa, I think someone has been here recently." he explained.

"Again, so what? Victoria gave us the key to this building, if anyone was here recently it was probably her." Lisa said.

"I suppose." Dallas sat down across from her, not looking entirely convinced. He stretched out, knocking something aside with his foot. Looking beneath the table, he saw that it was an empty cat food dish.

Lisa glanced at it, and asked him if he had any cats.

"No, not right now. I remember my first cat though. I got her when I was ten, and she was a Russian Blue. Her fur kind of glistened, so I named her Gypsum. She was such a good cat. Intelligent, playful, and well behaved. It sounds kind of weird to say, but even though she was just a cat, she was one of my best friends. It was like she could understand what I was saying."

"What happened to her?" Lisa inquired.

Dallas sighed. "My asshole brother killed her."

"Seriously? That is messed up."

"Well as I said, my older brother Devon is a complete asshole. He's six years older than me, so he's twenty four now. When I was a kid, he'd beat me up and call me a faggot all the time, and it wasn't typical sibling rivalry either, he really meant it. Of course, I wasn't his only target, he got suspended for fighting in school so many times that he eventually got expelled. Shortly after he got kicked out of school, he came up to me at home when I was playing with Gypsum. I thought he'd just beat me up again, but instead he picked up my cat and drove a kitchen knife into her back. She died. I never forgave him for that."

"Uh, wow. Sorry. Your brother sounds like a mega douche."

"Yeah. Thankfully he moved out of the house when I was twelve, right after my little sister was born, so I haven't had to deal with him since. He's married to a stripper and has two young kids now, probably beats all three of them. He's in prison at the moment, the idiot got caught robbing a jewelry store. I can't say I miss him. As a matter of fact, I take pleasure in the fact he's going to be locked up for a while. If I see him again, I'll break his nose." Dallas smirked. "Do you have any siblings, Lisa?"

Lisa shook her head. "Nope. I'm an only child. I always wanted a brother or sister, but I never got one. Growing up, I couldn't have any pets either because both of my parents are allergic to animal fur. I'm going to have tons of animals one day though. Cats, dogs and horses. I'm going to live way out in the country so they can have lots of space to run around."

Getting up from the table, she stepped towards the open door. "I guess we had better get a move on. The sooner we can get out of this building, the better."

"I concur." Dallas followed her out the door.

Glancing to the side, they noticed that all of the doors in this stretch of the third floor were open. Not only that, but each door had actually been removed and propped up against the wall near the doorway.

Before either of them could comment on it, a loud gun shot rang out, causing both of them to jump and dart into opposite rooms. Another shot, and a chunk of the wall was shattered.

"Holy shit! Someone is shooting at us! I told you there was someone here, Lisa! I told you!" Dallas exclaimed while trying to seek cover in the kitchen area.

Trying to hide in her own room, Lisa covered her ears while crouched under a table. She heard one more bullet tear into the wall outside, then everything fell silent. She was pumped full of adrenaline, but she didn't dare move. There was someone with a gun out there, and she had nothing but a pipe. Whoever was out there would quickly find her in her plain view hiding spot. Fearing for the worst, she quickly scanned the area for a better option, but didn't see any. Just when she was beginning to get the courage to move, she heard footsteps. At first, she froze, but soon realized that they were fading, not becoming louder. The gunman was leaving.

Once a few more tense minutes of silence passed, Lisa slowly crept over to the doorway, glancing down the hall and into the room across from her. All was quiet, and the danger seemed to have passed.

"Lisa? You still there?" Dallas asked from somewhere in the room.

"Yeah. Where are you?" Lisa asked, not moving into the hall quite yet.

He answered her question by slinking out of his hiding place. "Good to see we're both still in one piece. I thought we were going to die for sure." He got up and moseyed to the door. "I don't know who that was, but we need to get out of here before they come back, otherwise-" he was cut off as ten thick metal bars suddenly shot up from the ground in the doorway, connecting to the ceiling and preventing him from leaving. "What the?!"

"You've got to be kidding..." Lisa moaned. She tried to jam her hand in between the bars to get to him, but had zero success. Each bar had less than three inches of space between it and the next one. "Great. This is just GREAT." she seethed and looked at Dallas, who was banging his head against the wall.

"Stop that, I can't have you hurting yourself. Tell you what, I will find some way to get you out of there. I'll come back with a chainsaw or something. If I can't find one, try to climb out the window, and I'll do my best to meet up with you outside. I'll come back, I promise." Lisa said sincerely.

"Sounds good. How about if you can't find anything within half an hour, come back here. Meanwhile, I'll try and find something helpful. Does that sound like a good plan?" Dallas questioned.

"Yeah. It does. I'll be back before you know it." Lisa gave him a reassuring smile and walked forward, peeking into the rooms. Unsurprisingly, she found nothing of interest.

She walked around a bend in the hall and noticed that the rooms in this section did have doors, and one in particular stood out. Unlike the other doors, this one seemed to be made from a higher quality of wood, mahogany perhaps, and had fancy engravings carved into it. The knob was made of clear glass, and the keyhole had a gold outline. It was of course locked. Lisa rolled her eyes, talking to herself, "Why did I think for even a second that it would be open?" She suddenly remembered the person who had been shooting at her, and realized that he or she could be in that room, so she backed away.

Not wasting anymore time, she examined the rest of the apartment rooms that opened, not finding any useful items. Thankfully she didn't find any live monsters, but one room did contain a deceased one. Unlike the others she had seen so far, this one was humanoid, and its corpse was riddled with bullet holes. It's torso and arms seemed normal enough, but its legs were elongated and the knees bent the wrong way. It had a disturbing head as well, as it was completely bald, with an unnaturally wide mouth and fabric sewn over its eyes. Its bottom jaw had been ripped off, and it had a long lizard like tongue. Lisa was 99.9% sure the monster was dead, but she didn't want to get any closer to it if she didn't have to, so she turned and left the room.

At the very end of the hall, she was confronted with a fire escape door. The words 'the path to enlightenment' were spray painted in red lettering across it. Much to Lisa's shock, the door opened with ease, leading outside.

Instead of a staircase leading downwards, the door led to an enclosed cage like catwalk, which had makeshift walls and a ceiling created with barbed wire. Being careful not to touch the edges, Lisa slowly walked down the path, looking around. The fog was still dense, but she could make out buildings and streets below. Some of the odd bird like monsters that she had encountered earlier where fluttering around the path, screeching and trying to get to her. Since the barbed wire was protecting her from them, Lisa took this time to get a closer look at the monsters, seeing that their veiny wings had holes in them, and that their feet were shackled together. They appeared to be blind, as they had a cloth stretched over their eyes and nailed directly into the sockets.

Figuring that they hunted by sound, Lisa tried to ignore them, which was difficult to do, as her static spouting phone kept the demon hawks clustered around her. As long as the wire walls were present, she'd be fine, but she braced herself to run the second she found herself on the ground.

When the catwalk ended, she saw a ladder leading down into a fenced off yard. She descended as quickly as she could, getting scratched once on the way down. Oddly enough, the birds didn't follow her once she reached the yard, instead they squawked and flew away. Lisa paid them no mind, her attention instead focused on the house in front of her.

It looked to be about a hundred years old and was painted turquoise, with a decently sized outdoor porch, complete with a wooden swing. The truly weird part was the fact that this seemingly normal home was completely encircled with a twenty foot tall fence made of razor wire.

Not wanting to think about why it was there, Lisa made her way up the sidewalk, up the steps, and attempted to open the front door. Locked. Thinking that someone might be home, she changed her strategy and knocked firmly on the door three times. She waited for a minute, half expecting someone to answer the door. When no one did, she turned around, preparing to look for an alternate way in. She hadn't even taken two steps when she heard the door slowly creak open, revealing a nice looking front room.

"Somehow, I just knew that was going to happen..." Lisa quietly said to herself. Gripping her steel pipe tightly, she took a deep breath and stepped inside.


	2. Chapter 2: Angelo

Nudging the front door open, Lisa cautiously looked around. All was quiet and there didn't seem to be anyone about, but she wasn't sure if she should feel relaxed or more anxious.  
Like the apartments, the house was still fully furnished, further supporting her theory that all the town's residents had all suddenly left.

Lisa slowly walked through the front room, taking in her surroundings. Nothing was out of the ordinary, it appeared to be a completely normal sitting room, with two black leather chairs and a rather ugly pink sofa. The dining room proved to be equally boring.

Though she saw nothing important, there had to be something here for her to see or find, as the catwalk lead to this specific house. She was still questioning why she was here when she saw a note taped to the refrigerator.

Adam-

I have to work a double shift at the hospital today, could you do me a favor and pick up that electric train set for Trenton? Thanks sweetie!

love, Susan

Lisa disregarded the note, opting instead to investigate the cabinets, finding nothing special. She did notice another 'health drink' on the island next to the stove and picked it up. "Why do I keep finding these? Furthermore, who would drink something like this?" she asked herself.  
She searched the rest of the first floor, not finding any clues or hints whatsoever. The door to the basement was in the kitchen and was unlocked, yet she couldn't get it open no matter how much she tugged at it. It was as if somebody was holding it shut from the other side. Eventually she gave up trying. "Alright, next stop, second floor." she said without thinking. It occurred to her that she was speaking just to hear herself talk. Just to hear something, as the silence was beginning to unnerve her.

She crept up the stairs, causing them to creak with each step. As she went up, she noticed a repugnant smell drifting from above. It was rank and rotten, but with a tinge of sweetness to it. Lisa swallowed hard as she pinpointed what it was: decomposing flesh. It was an odor she was familiar with, as en entire family of mice had died in her walls several years ago. It was coming from the door to her immediate left.  
She stood in front of the door, not wanting to open it, but at the same time, she was overcome with morbid curiosity. She had never seen a dead body before, and while she didn't know if she truly wanted to, this might be her only chance.

Turning the doorknob, she opened the bedroom door just a crack, barely enough to see. Sure enough, there was a body on the bed. It was swathed in filthy white sheets, wrapped tightly, with only the shins and feet exposed. Judging by the smaller figure, she concluded that it was female. She stared at the corpse's discolored feet for exactly two seconds before quickly shutting the door.

"Oh shit. I think I just found Susan. Get out of here, Lisa. Get out." she told herself. For all she knew, the killer could still be lurking about, stalking the area. After all, she knew the old saying, that a killer will always return to the scene of the crime to relive the memory.

She was about to turn and leave when she noticed the attic door was open, casting light into the hall and beckoning her to go up. Not bothering to check the bathroom or the other two bedrooms, she made her way up, and the stairs were so steep that she had to climb them on all fours.

Once she reached the top, she suddenly sneezed, due to all the dust in the air. There were piles of pink insulation in all four corners, and it looked to be the variety that causes extreme itchiness when touched, so she steered clear of it. All kinds of items where strewn about, from empty suitcases to long abandoned stuffed animals, each covered in year's worth of dust. In the middle of it all was an electric train set, with many extra cars laying about.

Remembering the note she saw downstairs, Lisa bent down to examine it. The track was in a large oblong shape, and there was a control pad near her feet. A note was attached to it, this one written with blue crayon and scripted by a child. Reading out loud, Lisa recited, "Mr. Jones needs to make a delivery to Mr. Tompson. He must take eight new cars, some Nitrogen, two herds of horses, an order of iron pipes, a shipment of couches and a place to sleep with the B-engine."

Setting the note down, Lisa examined the control pad. Blowing the excessive dust off, she fiddled with the power switch, cranking it on. Nothing happened. Even when she increased the power, the train didn't move. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she realized the problem, there was a piece of track missing. Since there weren't any spare pieces laying about in the open, she turned her gaze towards a container presumably housing more train parts. To her surprise, it was empty. She glared at the gap in the track and sighed. Of course there was a missing piece. Nothing could ever be simple.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

"Gah!" Lisa shouted and leapt up, nearly jumping out of her skin. Looking around frantically, she gripped her pipe, ready to bash in the head of the unseen intruder. "Who's there? Show yourself! You have until the count of three to show yourself!" she threatened, hoping she sounded more intimidating than she felt. "One...two..." Lisa fidgeted, getting ready to attack the motionless human silhouette in the corner. "Three!" she sprang forward, swinging her pipe as hard as she could, feeling it connect to her target. It fell to the floor harmlessly, revealing itself to be a mannequin.

Immediately feeling foolish, she ceased her attack on the object. She may be alone up here, but she heard a man's voice, she knew it. She wasn't crazy, and there's no way she was just imagining it. Someone had spoken to her, and she didn't want to stick around long enough to find out who. For all she knew, it could be the same guy who had been shooting at her and Dallas earlier.

Trying not to think about it, she concocted a game plan in her head: Solve this stupid puzzle and get the fuck out. In order to do that, she'd need to find the missing track, and assuming it wasn't out in plain sight, she figured she'd search the creepiest place in the house first.

She walked back down to the kitchen, and felt uneasy when she saw that the basement door was now ajar. It gave off a very foreboding feel, the same feeling she had briefly felt back at the Happy Burger. Only this time, it was more unsettling. There was something awful down there, she could sense it.

Gathering her courage, she flipped on the basement light switch, absolutely relieved that the lights worked. For now, at least. The way things have been going so far, she wouldn't be shocked if she was suddenly plunged into darkness at the worst possible moment.

Once she set foot on the concrete floor, she was bombarded with the stench of rotting flesh for a second time. "Great..." she slowly inched forward, passed the laundry area, into the storage area. There were three massive shelves here, and all three of them were fully stocked with antiques of all sorts. Between two of the shelves, there was a yellow wooden door with a simple latch keeping it shut.  
The closer she got to it, the more pungent the putrid aroma got. Unlatching the door, Lisa peered in nervously, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. There was another wrapped up corpse laying against the wall, this one was larger and appeared to be a male. In its lap sat one train track segment, the same curved piece she needed.

Lisa fidgeted again, trying to calm her nerves. "You can do this Lisa. He's dead. He's not going to care if you take the track." She tried to reassure herself, but her confidence was low. Awash with nervousness, she slowly reached forward, speaking to prevent herself from panicking. "You must be Adam...Pleased to meet you. Surely you won't mind if I take this track?" her voice quavered as she extended her right hand.

Closer...

Closer...

Got it. Lisa snatched the track and withdrew her hand, immediately stepping back and closing the door. She didn't waste another second, she sprinted up the stairs and raced back to the attic. She had the track, now she could solve this puzzle and leave.

She placed the track, completing the power circuit, then looked at the child's note again. It didn't make very much sense at first, but after analyzing it a bit more, she concluded that she'd need to switch some of the cars around. Specifically, she'd need to place the BNSF engine on the track, and hook up four cargo carriers, a tanker, two animal carriers, a flatbed car, a boxcar, and a caboose, in that order. Once she had the correct cars hooked up, she turned the dial on the control pad, starting the train. It chugged along the track, with the engine releasing real smoke every so often. After it completed three circuits, the whistle blew and something dropped from the rafters, landing on the floor with a clink.

It was a key, and a very fancy one at that. Etched into it was the number 308, the same number as the elegant looking door in the apartment building. Lisa swiped the key and swiftly exited the house, not caring to look behind her as she went.

The demon birds were still clustered around the outer walls of the catwalk, but Lisa paid them no mind, instead proceeding directly back to the apartment complex. She shut the fire escape door behind her, actually somewhat relieved to be back in the moldy old apartment.

As she took several steps forward, she saw a scrap of notebook paper slide out from beneath the door of room 312. She knelt down and gazed at it. It was hastily written and read:

'I can't take the pain anymore, and I beg you to kill me. I'll give you the bullet.'

As soon as she finished reading, one bullet rolled out from underneath the door, coming to a stop at her foot. She picked it up, cocked her head and stared at the door. "What good is a bullet without a gun?" she asked, hoping the unseen person would answer.

The front panel of a nearby electric box suddenly fell off, clattering to the floor and snagging her attention. Two handguns were stashed inside.

"Yes! Now that is what I'm talking about!" she bounded over to the box, picking up one of the guns. It was cool to the touch and relatively light, stocked with one full magazine. She had never fired a gun before, but with the monsters prowling about, she knew it would come in handy. Hoping she wouldn't need to use it much, she picked up the other gun and walked back to the room that Dallas was trapped in.

Putting her face against the bars, she inspected the room, looking for signs of her co worker. Though he was out of her sight, she could hear him blathering to himself. "Dallas? Are you still there?" she called out.

The frustrated muttering ceased immediately and Dallas came sprinting from the left, clearly exited to see her. "Lisa! You came back! I thought you forgot about me."

"What? No! I didn't forget about you, I just had to make a pitstop." Lisa explained. "There's a really fancy locked room down the hall, and fire escape path led to this creepy old house, where I had to solve some puzzle in the attic to get a key to room 308. That's not all I found though. Check this out." she showed him the pistols, pushing one through the bars. "One for you, one for me."

Dallas took the gun, carefully examining it, tracing his finger over the grip on the stock. "I've never fired a real gun before. I accidentally shot my friend with a BB gun once, but that doesn't really count." he admitted.

"Neither have I. At least now we'll be better protected. We're packing heat, how does that make you feel?" Lisa asked.

"Like a walking stereotype." Dallas answered. He spoke in a sarcastic voice, but wore a hint of a smile.

Despite her situation, Lisa had to laugh. It momentarily made her forget about their predicament, and she was tempted to blow off opening apartment 208 in favor of sitting here, talking to her companion. Before today, she had only spoken to him a few times at work, but she found that she really enjoyed his presence over the past two hours. Not only that, but she suspected that he was really starting to take a shining to her as well. He interrupted her thoughts by addressing her, effectively snapping her out of her daze.

"There's a window in the living room here, and a fire escape about fifteen feet from the window sill. It's too far to jump, but I haven't found any other way to get out of here."

"Hmm. Let me think a minute." Lisa mused. "I've got this odd feeling that there might be someone who can help us out in room 208. After all, someone wanted me to go through the trouble of getting the key. I just...I really hope I'm right about this."

"Yeah, me too. I'm going crazy in here. This feels weird to say in a messed up town full of monsters, but I am so BORED. It feels like I've been in here for about a thousand hours, but in reality, it's probably been around half an hour at most. At least I'm safe. Probably, anyway."

"There's only one way to find out. I'm going to pay our friend in 208 a visit. Hopefully it will all go smoothly, then maybe we can find a way to bust you out of here. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" Lisa prepared to leave.

"Lisa?" Dallas asked, leaning against the bars.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, okay? I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

Lisa grinned again. "I will. Don't worry about me."

With that, she spun around and strode down the corridor, key in hand. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was a little unraveled about meeting the mystery person. It was most likely an ally, but what if it wasn't? What if it was someone who wanted to harm or even kill her?

Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, Lisa slid the key into the lock and slowly turned the knob, inching the door open. Unlike all the other rooms, this apartment was in excellent shape, and whoever was responsible for the interior decorating had high class taste. The furniture and vanities were high quality, scenic paintings of lakeside architecture adorned the walls, and there were several shelves crammed with all sorts of books, mostly non fiction. Completing it all was a fully stocked wine cabinet in the corner.

The sound of liquid being poured into a glass met her ears, which lead her over to a parlor area. Lounging on the sofa was a well dressed, handsome African American man who appeared to be in his mid thirties, enjoying a glass of brandy. He was clad in a white long sleeve shirt, a black vest, black slacks and a bowler hat tilted over one eye. Though he was dressed in classy attire, his outfit had a bit of an urban flair, as he was wearing diamond stud earrings and fingerless leather gloves.

He looked up, pleasantly surprised to see her. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd come by. I've been expecting you. My name is Angelo. Come sit down, so we can talk."

Lisa's blood turned to ice, and it must have shown on her face, as he quickly changed the subject.

"Are you alright? You look like you've just witnessed a murder."

"You're...you're the guy from the attic! I heard your voice earlier!" Lisa accused.

Angelo raised a brow, evidently puzzled. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I've been in here for quite a while. You must have been hearing things, miss."

"My name is Lisa. And I wasn't imaging it, I heard your voice crystal clear." Lisa said.

"Couldn't be. As I said, I was here. Care for a glass of brandy?" he offered, filling a second glass halfway and handing it to her.

Lisa declined. "No thank you. I don't drink."

"Are you sure? I think you do, Lisa."

"No, really. I'm good."

"If you insist." Angelo smirked at her.

Lisa shifted uncomfortably. This man didn't seem dangerous, but he made her uneasy, like he knew something and didn't want to tell her. She looked him over, and her uneasiness increased by tenfold when she spotted the revolver sitting beside him. Without thinking, she gripped her own gun and pointed it at him, catching him off guard.

"Keep your hands where I can see them, and don't try anything stupid. I don't want to shoot you, but I will if I have to." she said coldly.

"Take it easy, Lisa. Don't do anything you'll regret." Angelo spoke calmly, like he was fully accustomed to having guns pointed at his head.

"I think you had better start talking."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Why were you shooting at me earlier? I'd answer that question very carefully if I was you."

"I meant no harm, I just needed to separate you two, that's all, I swear. I'm not a bad guy, as a matter of fact, I think you'll find me very useful, weather you realize it or not. I'd love to continue this conversation, but there are places I need to be." Swallowing the rest of the brandy and picking up his gun, Angelo stood up and ambled over to the door. "You can stop pointing that gun at me now. Shooting me would be a big mistake."

"Perhaps, but I think you can see where I'm coming from. How can I trust you not to blow my head off with that hand cannon of yours?" Lisa asked.

"Don't worry. The only heads I'll be blowing off are demon heads. Speaking of which, there's another clip of handgun ammo in my desk, feel free to take it if you'd like." Angelo offered politely.

"Alright." Lisa lowered her gun. She still didn't trust him at all, but figured it would be best if she kept that thought to herself.

"I've got to run, perhaps we'll cross paths in the near future." he moved towards the doorway, with his hand on the knob. "Oh, and Lisa?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll see to it that Dallas gets out of confinement." he walked out and shut the door behind him before Lisa had the chance to speak.

"Hey, wait! How did you know his name?" she called, following after him. "Wait up, answer my question!"

She looked up and down the hall, but he was already gone. "Son of a bitch. Where did he go?" Defeated, she slunk back into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. Upon searching the desk, she learned that he had been telling the truth, there was a clip in the center drawer. As she dropped it into her purse, she was startled by the sudden blaring of an air horn. It was relatively quiet at first, but steadily got louder as the seconds went by.

"What the hell?!" she ran over to the window to investigate and saw that it was rapidly getting darker outside. "Oh crap. This isn't good. Time to go."

Lisa stealthily walked towards the exit, only to be taken aback by a strange liquid dripping out of the keyhole. At first glance she mistook it for blood, but this liquid was thicker and black. It began to snake in from the door frame, and Lisa instinctively backed away from it. The stuff began to ooze from outlets, trickling down the cords, it dripped from light fixtures, and shot up in spurts from the drain in the kitchen sink. Out of everything she had seen so far, this ranked the highest on the what the fuck meter, and she had a feeling that it might dissolve her flesh or engulf her if she touched it.

Thoroughly terrified, Lisa jumped up on the sofa to avoid the black ooze that slowly crept towards her. "What is happening? What IS this?" she tried to recline as far back to the wall as she could, hoping that it would open up and take her someplace safe. She felt something wet and slightly warm touch her hand, and she jerked away upon realizing the stuff was now streaming down the wall. She had some on her right hand, and was only slightly relieved that it didn't burn her.

The air horn was still wailing, now louder than ever, and Lisa barely heard the rumbles and cracks coming from the north wall. The whole room seemed to shake, sending her into adrenaline overload mode. She flew over to the door, only to find it locked. Not letting that stop her, she began pounding on its surface, getting her hands coated with the strange black substance in the process. "Let me out! Angelo, open the door! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Lisa shouted until her throat stung, and banged on the door to no avail.

Her tirade was interrupted as an explosion rocked the room, showering chunks of plaster and wood all over the place and sending her toppling onto the floor. Looking behind her in a panic, she saw that a section of the wall had blown up, revealing another hallway behind it.

Once the dust settled, everything suddenly went deathly quiet. It was so quiet that she could almost hear her erratic heartbeat. For several minutes, she sat on the floor, unmoving. Something obviously wanted her to explore the new entryway, but she was afraid to do so. Finally, she picked herself up and unsteadily walked over to the ruined wall and looked around with extreme caution. Equipping her gun again, she stepped into the new area.

The hall was a drab white, with water damage covering most of the wall paper. Pipes ran across the ceiling, dripping stagnant water, which collected on the floor in pools. The floor itself was noticeably the most striking feature, as it was made of filthy glass. Molded inside it was a collection of bones, some from humans and some from animals, each one with a numbered tag tied to it.

The sound of wood snapping and bending became apparent, as the walls themselves undulated in waves. At the peak of a wave, cracks formed, and the wood splintered, causing hundreds of worms, flies, beetles and maggots to come pouring out.

Lisa leaped back just in time to avoid getting swarmed. There was only one way to go, so she ran forward, not noticing the sudden static. A horse demon intercepted her, smashing its large head into her, knocking her flat on her back. Her gun went flying, but due to her quick reflexes, she jumped up and dodged the attack just as the monster brought its hooves down, the fleshy fez on its face mask grazing her arm. She scrambled away from it, retrieved her gun, trying to line up a head shot. She only had about a second to make her move, so she fired somewhat blindly. Thankfully, the bullet pierced one of its hind legs, crippling it. The monster moaned in agony and fell down in pain, giving her time to run.

Lisa tore down the hall, barely noticing as the white walls gave away to blood tinged chain link intersected with barbed wire. There were fans beyond it, all of them with the blades bent in every direction. Yet somehow, they still turned. Behind the distorted industrial fans, she could make out the forms of people, tied up and suspended with ropes, dangling over the abyss. Their cries met Lisa's ears, making her cringe, but she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't have time to think who they were or why they were there, her mind was in a hysterical state. She didn't even know what to think at the moment, all she knew was that she had to get out of this place.

She ran until the hall abruptly ended, presenting her with a ladder. It was basked in a red light, but there was no clear light source. She had no choice, she could either climb the ladder or stay down here and tango with a BDSM horse most likely owned by Satan himself.

She began to climb, taking note of the bizarre interior decor that adorned the walls. Every few feet, there were loops of razor wire, each one with a crucified toy in the center. Dolls, stuffed animals, action figures and the like, all with spikes driven through their hands and feet.

There was a little alcove to her left, so she jumped into it. Being about six feet by six feet, there was ample room for her to stand. One of the walls was entirely glass, so she peered in, captivated by what she saw in front of her. A very normal American style kitchen lay beyond it, and there was a distressed looking teenage boy, seventeen or eighteen at most, standing in front of the stove island. He was of average build, had short blonde hair and was wearing a flat brimmed hat cocked to the side. Lisa banged on the glass to get his attention. He looked at her for a split second, then looked forward again.

Just as Lisa was about to question why, _they_ came into her view. Monsters, three of them, had this kid cornered, and she audibly screamed when she got a good look at them, as she had never seen a more disgusting sight. From the neck down, they looked like regular men, clad in black suits with red ties, but their heads were grotesque, misshapen and tumor like. They didn't have any recognizable facial features, and their heads were split in half right down the middle, revealing a vertical mouth lined with sharp teeth. Worst of all, each one wielded a gun. They seemed to be speaking to the kid or communicating with him in some way, as he was clearly resisting their words.

He shook his head and said something to them, but Lisa couldn't hear what. It obviously upset them, as one of the monsters raised its gun, aiming at him. The kid tried to bolt, but a shot rang out and he fell to his knees, having taken a bullet to the leg. The second monster fired, the bullet tearing through his torso and bloodying the surrounding area. The boy was on the ground now, crawling towards the glass. His eyes met with Lisa's, and her own eyes widened as the third monster stood over him. Knowing its victim wouldn't get very far, it took its time lining up the shot. Finally, it fired an execution style kill shot into the boy's head, sending blood and brain fragments splattering onto the glass.

Lisa gasped in horror and clamped her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. One of the horrible monstrosities approached the glass, causing her to almost choke on her breath. Though it lacked eyes, she knew it saw her, thus she had to act before it did.

Aiming her gun, she pumped a bullet through the glass, striking the creature in the shoulder. It twitched, pounding its fist on the glass and causing Lisa to flinch. A few seconds passed before it moved again, making a motion to the other two. The three beings turned on their heels and walked away, disappearing into the shadows.

Lisa sighed in relief, overjoyed that the things had departed. Deeming it safe to move, she resumed climbing the ladder, taking one last look into the room out of morbid curiosity. The deceased teenager was laying face down in a growing pool of his own blood. Since this marked the third corpse she had seen today, it wasn't quite as shocking, but it still disgusted and saddened her. She had never seen the kid before, but nobody deserved to get blown away in such a brutal fashion.

She reached the top of the ladder, finding herself standing in front of a set of double doors. Surprisingly, they opened with ease, and she looked around in wonder at the cavernous new room.

It was a church, with very Gothic looking decorations and structures. A bright red carpet led down the isle, elegant chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and from behind the ancient looking organ, magnificent stained glass windows bathed the whole room in a beautiful multicolored glow. Strangely, the rows of pews were all occupied by white retail mannequins dressed in fancy clothes, and there was a congregation of them on the church stage as well.

As she looked around, a nostalgic feeling swept over her. This church felt very familiar, almost like she had been here before, but she knew she hadn't. Her parents had dragged her to church every Sunday until she was fourteen, but never to one this extravagant.

As she neared the podium, the display on the stage became clear, causing her to grimace in disapproval. A ring of white mannequins were seated around a makeshift gallows, where a black mannequin and a white mannequin adorned with a star of David hung motionless, with ropes tightly fastened around their necks.

There was an open scripture laid out on the podium, beckoning Lisa to read from it.

"And God said unto him, the coloreds and the Jews will be cast into the fires of hell, as their sins cannot be atoned...Okay, enough of that." Lisa slammed it shut, thoroughly disgusted with this church's intolerance.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two empty chairs in the circle surrounding the gallows. Both chairs had a small card placed on the seat, reading 'These seats are reserved for Gavin and Jennifer S.'

Lisa froze, refusing to believe what she just read. Those were her parent's names. They weren't exactly the most accepting people on the planet, but no way were they this extreme. They would never stand for the hangings of innocent people. Surely, this had to be another example of someone playing cruel tricks on her. Lisa knew this, yet at the very back of her mind, she heard this nagging voice that they might have lead secret life, one they didn't want their daughter to discover.

Lisa shook her head and pointed an accusatory finger at the display. "It's not true. That's a lie! My parents would never do that, not in a million years!" she shouted to the emptiness, directing her anger towards the town itself. "It's NOT true!" she kicked one of the mannequins over, whacked the head off another, and tore the scriptures to shreds, tossing the pieces into the air.

Satisfied with the destruction, she followed the red carpet to the right. It lead out to another hallway. Perched beside the door frame was a collection bowl, with a handwritten sign asking for donations. Lisa scowled at it. "Here's what I think of your church!" she picked up and bowl and threw it as hard as she could through one of the stained glass windows, sending hundreds of shards raining down onto the stage.

Upon exiting the church, she found herself in yet another nightmare fueled hallway. Streams of gravity defying blood flowed up the walls, covering the entire ceiling. The floors here were glass as well, showcasing lengths of intestines which ran from one end of the hall to the other, and seemed to have something flowing through them.

An empty, safe looking room came into her view, and she entered, sitting down in the corner. She tried to make sense of what was happening, but to no avail. There simply was no logical explanation for this. Her day had began normal enough, but it all went to hell so suddenly. She was trapped in a ghost town crawling with monsters, met some suspicious individuals, killed creatures thought to be fictional, witnessed someone getting murdered, and was now a little suspicious of her parent's activities. To top it all off, she was now stuck in an alternate reality, one where time probably doesn't even exist. Not only that, but she had absolutely no idea if Dallas was okay or not.  
Though it had only been twenty minutes since she last saw him, it felt like forever due to the other world's influence. She wasn't the type to admit to sappy feelings, but she was beginning to miss him and hoped that he wasn't in danger.

She thought about what she had last said to him, about not worrying about her, and promising him that nothing bad was going to happen. "Sorry I broke my promise. It's been nice working with you, but I'm going to get devoured or blown to pieces by a monster soon. I apologize for lying." she muttered to herself, slinking further down the wall as she did so. She hugged herself and let her head fall back against the wall in defeat.

For the first time in her life, she felt truly helpless.


	3. Chapter 3: creepy green light

"Lisa, where did you go?" Dallas asked to himself, as if saying his thoughts out loud would make her answer. He was lazing on his back in the middle of the apartment, having long given up on finding an escape route. He wasn't the type to give up easily, but after ransacking the whole apartment and finding nothing helpful, he called it quits.

As he stared at the cracked ceiling, a paper airplane soared into his vision. It glided over him and landed in the corner. Upon examining it, he saw that there was a message written on it. 'I made a hole behind the oven. The fire escape is right below it.'

Wordlessly, he bounded over to the kitchen and began to tug at the oven. It didn't budge at first, but after a second he was able to pull it out far enough to get behind it. Sure enough, there was a hole in the wall, just barely big enough to squeeze through.

As he got down on the grime encrusted ground, his attention was drawn to some prehistoric looking Cheerios scattered around the hole. They had probably been under the oven for forty years.

Dallas examined one, licked it, then dropped it out the hole, as his interest in the fossilized cereal was quickly beginning to wane. Instead, he maneuvered himself through the hole in the wall. It was a bit of a tight fit, but he was able to squirm through, ungracefully falling down ass first onto the fire stairs in the process.

Upon picking himself up, felt a stinging pain in his left hand and saw a cut on the back, which was starting to bleed out a bit. He ignored it and walked down to the alley. He scanned the area for Lisa, but didn't see her anywhere.

"Lisa? Are you out here?" he called.

No answer.

Maybe she's on the other side, he thought. "Lisa?" He walked around to the other side of the building, only to be let down. He looked above him and saw a very odd caged catwalk, but she wasn't up there either.

The roads on either side were obliterated, leaving him a span of about one block to explore. In addition to being locked, every store he looked into was dark and devoid of life.

Dallas sighed and sat on the curb. He was beginning to feel very frustrated. All the roads were destroyed, there were hideous monsters roaming around, and he was lost.  
"This sucks. I hereby nominate Silent Hill as the shittiest, most awful town in America."

When he looked up again, there was a bit of a break in the fog, which allowed him to see a large object up ahead. He got up to take a closer look.

It was an old Jeep, sitting diagonally in the road. It was red, with a wide stripe running down the body, and had obviously been in an accident due to the crunched up front bumper.

His interest fully peaked, Dallas examined the Jeep, touching it, prodding it, and taking in all the little details. He reached into his coat, withdrawing a pen and a small notebook. He talked aloud to himself as he wrote: "I came across a red Jeep with a white stripe running down the side. Nice leather seats. One of the doors is hanging open. All four tires are flat. The exterior is rusted, and since the front end is smashed up, I conclude that there was a collision of some sort. The vehicle is very old, it appears to have been sitting here for about thirty years."

Satisfied with the entry, he closed the notebook. He had always liked vehicles of all kinds, especially old ones. For reasons he didn't entirely understand, he felt it necessary to document every time he came in contact with a new interesting vehicle. Others thought it was strange, but it was important to him. If he rode in a friend's car for example, he had to record what kind of car it was, its appearance, the license plate number, and who he rode with. If he didn't, he felt that it destroyed the balance of his day.

After poking the Jeep's antennae, he forced himself to get back on track. He double checked the storefronts, and was surprised to see one that was open. The Silent Hill veterinary clinic was light inside. There was a billboard for a car towing service on top of the clinic, and there was a warehouse located behind it, so he figured he must be on the right track to escape. If he could find a path to the car impound lot through the clinic, then he could bring Lisa back to it later. He highly doubted it would be that easy, but figured it was worth a shot.

The clinic was quite sleek and modern inside, the waiting area divided into two sides, one for cats and one for dogs. Unlike all the other areas he had seen so far, this place was surprisingly clean and free of debris. There wasn't even much dust.  
From beyond the front desk, he could access the two main examination rooms. The first exam room room was very normal, as was the second. The only slightly odd thing was the bizarre syringe laid out on the stainless steel exam table. It was ridiculously over sized, and if there was a syringe specifically for use in elephants, this would be it. Including the needle, it was about a foot long, and the needle was three millimeters thick.

A few drops of blood pattered onto the table, making him remember the cut on his hand. He opened the supply drawers until he found a roll of bandages and some medical tape. He was no medical expert, but did a sufficient job at applying enough pressure to stop the bleeding.

Leaving the bandages, tape and absurdly huge syringe where they were, Dallas examined the X ray room, which was adjacent to the exam rooms. The X ray machine was on, but was in sleep mode. A quick look over indicated that it was an electric one, which would print the X rays directly from the computer, thus negating the need for a dark room.

There were two films attached to the light box. One was an X ray of a large breed of dog who had swallowed a key, as there was a bright rod shaped object lodged in the dog's trachea. The second film also showed a patient, this one feline, who had swallowed a metal object.

Momentarily, Dallas pondered as to weather or not it was a clue. He shrugged it off and walked around until he found himself in the surgery area. There were two stainless steel tables in the center of the room, both with one strap in each corner. One table, presumable the one used for general surgery, was flat, with a groove running down the middle so it could be cranked into a V shape. The other was much deeper, with a sink molded to the back. A small tray was resting on it, containing a blood tinged pliers and several bloody canine teeth.

There was a refrigerator to the left of the tables which contained all sorts of vaccines. To the side of the fridge was a small rotating shelf that held many types of tranquilizers, and a controlled substance vault for the more dangerous drugs. It was open just a crack, so he examined the bottles within it. Most of the names were unfamiliar, but one stuck out to him. There was a half full bottle of Euthasol in the vault, and he was well aware that was what was used to put down sickly animals. Figuring he might need it,he stuffed it into the deepest pocket in his coat.

There wasn't much else to see on the first floor except for a wall of empty cages. He was about to walk back up towards the front when he noticed a pool of blood near the basement stairs. The pool gave away to a trail, which continued down the steps.

Drawing his gun, Dallas slowly crept down, dreading that something truly terrible awaited him at the bottom. The blood trail bent to the right, and as he followed it, a soft crunching noise became apparent. Some snuffling soon accompanied it, immediately followed by static emitted from his iphone. As he walked, the sounds became louder and clearer, until it was unmistakable as meat being ripped apart and ravenously devoured.

He nervously peeked his head into a kennel room lined with cages. His gaze followed the blood trail and landed on a canine beast chomping on a piece of unidentifiable meat. Its mouth was cut wide open, as it was partially gagged with a tightly wound loop of barbed wire encircling its head. Its fur was caked in dirt and blood, its body was burned in some places, with its spine exposed and wired to the base of its broken tail. While the monster's rear paws looked like a normal dog's, its front legs sported human hands.

Since it was busy feasting on its victim, it didn't notice him. He briefly considered sneaking back out of the room, but that would pose the risk of the creature stalking him later.

He aimed his gun at it, disengaging the safety. The resulting click caused the creature's head to snap up, blowing his cover. It growled menacingly at him, blood dripping from its jaws as it did so.

Just as Dallas was about to pull the trigger, the door to one of the kennels flew open with great force and a large fleshy tentacle flew out, gripping the dog by its neck. It howled in surprise and struggled against its captor, but it was no match for the unseen monster. The dog continued to yelp as it was dragged into the kennel, up the wall, and into a ventilation duct.  
Its agonized howls were suddenly cut short as the tentacled monster snarled and ripped its throat wide open. The very short period of silence ended abruptly, and Dallas was treated to the sickening sounds of snapping bones and tearing flesh.  
Before he could move, the dog's bloodied head came hurtling out of the vent, colliding with a nearby cage door and rolling to a stop near his foot. For a minute, all he could do was stare in shock, rooted to the spot. Snapping out of it, he bolted out of the room and slammed the door shut, locking it from the outside.

He gave himself a minute for his accelerated heart rate to slow before properly scanning the area. More tentacles burrowed in and out of the walls here, though they weren't reaching for him. They were vibrating, leading him to think they were all attached to one monster. There was only one way to tell, so he carefully aimed his gun and fired, pumping a bullet into the nearest one. A monster's pained snarl came from somewhere near the kennel room, and the wounded tentacle receded into a crack in the wall, leaving a smear of blood behind.

Dallas retreated back to the stairs, attempting to form an action plan. He recalled the massive syringe upstairs, so he went back to get it. Bullets evidently wouldn't be enough to eliminate the vent dwelling creature, so he was going to poison it.

He seized the plus sized syringe, filled it all the way with the lethal pink Euthasol, and made his way back down into the basement, making sure to keep the end of the needle away from him. If he misstepped and accidentally plunged it into himself, he'd be done for.

There was a tentacle hanging down a few feet from the steps. Prepping himself, he leaped forward and drove the needle deep into it, pushing the plunger all the way down and emptying the barrel. The monster moaned, and all of the tentacles stiffened for a few seconds before becoming limp.

Though the area was now reassuringly quiet, he wasn't going to take another step until he was sure the beast was dead. The syringe was empty, but due to its size he could still use it as a weapon, so he stabbed it into the nearest appendage. Nothing happened.

Satisfied with his work, Dallas explored the rest of the basement. Much to his relief, the rest of the building was monster free. During his search, he found a nondescript key sitting on the table in the break room, so he picked it up.

The key turned out to open the roof hatch, as he discovered through some tedious trial and error. He nudged it open and stepped onto the roof. The hatch opened right in front of the billboard advertising the car impound lot, which allowed him to get a good look at it. According to the board, the impound lot was six blocks west of his current location. He could barely see its sign from the roof, but felt triumphant in finding it. Now all he had to do was find Lisa, bring her back here, and they'd be in the clear. They'd drive away from this town and never look back, as long as there was a road out of town. He tried to remain optimistic, but couldn't ignore the haunting fact that there might not be any roads left intact.

Forcing that thought out of his head, he looked around for a hint of some kind. There was a makeshift walkway constructed out of sheets of metal welded together leading from the veterinary facility to the warehouse right behind it, running all the way to an open window. Arrows spray painted in white onto the bricks pointed to the opening, surrounding it like a halo. He tested the path's durability, deemed it safe to cross, and crawled into the warehouse through the open window.

Unlike the veterinary clinic, the warehouse was dark and gloomy. Objects draped with cloths decorated the room, but due to the lack of light, he couldn't make out they're shapes.

Something clattered to the floor up ahead, making Dallas tense.

He had never been afraid of the dark before, not even as a child, but after everything he'd seen today, he was definitely going to be sleeping with the lights on for a while.

His eyes began to adjust to the darkness a bit, but it wasn't enough to efficiently see. As he fumbled through the room, he tripped over an object, tearing the cloth off of it. It was some kind of odd looking machine, but he couldn't make out the details. He blundered into the hallway, looking left and then right. All the doors were shut save for one, bright light shining from within. Walking quietly, he gazed into the room and was greeted with an odd sight.

A full length mirror was screwed to the wall beside a lever, and eight mannequins stood in front of it, four on either side. They were the creepy kind that are almost too lifelike.

Dallas backed away from them. Even though he knew they were only mannequins, they gave him the creeps, like they were observing him or plotting his downfall. He leered at one and knocked it with the barrel of his gun to make sure it wouldn't come alive or move on its own when his back was turned.

He jumped in surprise when an air raid siren suddenly started up, killing the silence. He wanted to go back outside to try and pinpoint where it was coming from, but much to his dismay, the door was now locked.

The lights behind the mannequins turned on in unison, bathing the room in an ultra violet hue. The lever cranked down, and the mirror began to deform, at first contorting into a wavy shape, and then it started to liquify.

Dallas' eyes widened and he backed against the wall, both afraid and oddly captivated. The mirror, now entirely in liquid form, spread out across the floor and flowed up the walls and the mannequins, turning them black as it did so.

In a panic, he spun around to try the door again, but was startled to see only a rusted metal wall in its place. "What?! It was right here! It was _right here!_" He frantically felt along the wall, searching for a doorknob, but his efforts were in vain. "No way. This is impossible!" He was so caught up in the sudden absence of an escape route that it took him a minute to notice the entire room begin to vibrate.

A mechanical whirring started up, and the walls slid upward, revealing replacements made of chain link fence. Though the vertical channel was dark, Dallas could faintly see thick cables running up the side of the shaft. He was completely dumbfounded when the realization hit him: the room itself had turned into an elevator and was advancing down into a dark pit.

The elevator stopped and a huge rift suddenly formed in the front metal sheet, cleaving it right in half. These pieces receded to the side, making awful screeching sounds as they went.

Dallas didn't move for a long time, he had to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. The rusty elevator gave away to a magnificently large room, complete with a second floor balcony that went all the way around. A chandelier constructed entirely from human bones was suspended from the ceiling, with each arm containing a turquoise candle, making the whole room glow with an eerie green light. Directly below it, the marbled floor had a circular chain link section in the middle, and a huge industrial fan rotated beneath it. Grotesque fleshy vines spiraled around the room's many columns, and Dallas was revolted to see that instead of flowers, they had sprouted eyeballs of all sorts of colors.

An unpleasant squelching sound made him turn to look at the disgusting walls. In some areas, the plaster had been chipped away, revealing circuit boards underneath. In place of wires, veins and arteries connected the electrodes and circuits to each other, causing blood to spill out of the holes, streak down the walls and pool on the floor. Another squelch occurred as a spurt of blood arced out from an artery, barely missing him.

He quickly stepped away and wandered into the center of the room. Directly in front of him was a set of French doors covered in graffiti. WE ARE ALWAYS WATCHING was hastily scrawled over and over again, along with a surplus of crudely drawn eyes. As soon as he stepped towards it, the glass blew out with a huge bang, sending shards hurtling towards him at an alarming speed.

Instinctively, he tried to shield himself from the projectiles, but some impacted into him anyway. Thankfully none of them did much damage due to his coat, but a particularly large piece did slice open a hole in one of the sleeves. He plucked a piece out of his hair and looked forward to see the ruined doors creak open.

This new hall had broken tile flooring, and many catwalks stretched horizontally above him. Hanging from underneath each one was a bevy of pink, bloodied Robbie the Rabbit dolls. They were all swaying, as if they were blowing in the wind.

"That's kind of-" his words caught in his throat as he detected something crawling above him, concealed in the shadows. Distorted feline howls drifted from somewhere above, sounding like a cat meowing directly into a running fan. The grating scrape of metal pounding against metal became faster, and the thing leapt from one of the catwalks, landing several meters in front of him.

It had the head and body of a cat, but its eyes were stapled shut and its hind legs were missing. The front legs and the tail dangled uselessly, and six long mechanical appendages protruded from its sides. The four rear limbs ended in bloodied, bandaged paws, but the front two were equipped with sharp, scythe like fingers.

It screeched at him and began charging forward, with the sharp front limbs extended towards him. Having only a split second to react, Dallas fired blindly, and the bullet deflected off one of the metal legs, not even slowing it. The second shot was a little more accurate, nailing it in the torso, and he got lucky with the third, managing a head shot. It howled in dying agony and crumpled forward, its scythe limb barely missing him.

"...Holy shit..." Dallas trembled, even more so when he got a clearer look at the slain monster. The feline corpse was that of a Russian Blue. It looked like his old cat Gypsum. He had just killed something that resembled his cat. He had loved that cat, and as a kid, she had been of his best friends. She had a dog like personality, and would even play fetch with him. In grade school, the first thing he'd do upon getting home each day was play with Gypsum. That is, until his asshole of a brother stabbed her to death.

He stepped around the corpse and continued forward, confronted with a ladder. It was sticky to the touch, being covered in an invisible sheen of a strange substance, which got on the bottom of his coat as he climbed.

This new area was so bizarre that he temporarily forgot his fear and glanced around in wonder. The ceiling extended into blackness, and the walls and floor were crafted from glass. Trapped within the glass walls was a plethora of dead crows and black feathers, and a row of human femurs lay underneath the floor. Water filled glass cubes containing mutant fish hung from chains, and some were either built into the wall or sitting on the floor. The snake like, saber toothed fish peered at him curiously as he walked by.

Looking very out of place, a polished decorative table with nary a scratch on it sat on a fancy carpet near the bend. Perched atop it was a can of Coke and a note.

Dallas carefully examined the can. It looked normal enough, and the ingredients list didn't name any compounds not found in regular Coke, so he deemed it safe for consumption. It turned out to be the best Coke he ever had, so he drank some of it quickly. When he was half finished with it, he looked at the note. It was neatly typed and read 'The key to her deepest desires lies within you.'

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" he glared at the note. As if to answer his question, he felt a sudden sharp pain in his stomach, and it was intense enough to make him flinch. "Oh great...that Coke was probably poisoned." he mumbled to himself. Even though he hadn't eaten in a few hours, he began to feel strangely full. Trying to ignore the growing sick feeling, he trudged forward.

The glass hall emptied into an bare room with an uncovered four bladed fan built into the ground. A sickening yet slightly sweet smell emanated from the room underneath it. As much as he didn't want to go down there, he had no choice. Working between the blades, he let himself drop down and looked up, immediately regretting his actions. Directly in front of him was a metal grate, and beyond it three bloody corpses hung from hooks. One was battered, one was missing a leg, and one had a slit throat and was hanging upside down. Blood dripped freely from all three, adding to the sizable pool beneath them.

Dallas gagged, backed away and tried to get a grip on himself. He briefly shut his eyes, but felt his heart almost stop when he heard a gun click behind him.

He whipped around and saw a gun wielding human like atrocity standing behind a second grate. Its body was that of a normal man, but its twitchy, gore soaked head was like a venus fly trap with two inch long fangs lining both sides. It didn't move or raise its gun any further, it only watched him. Another one appeared from the shadows, dragging a bullet ridden corpse of a teenage boy behind it. It said something to the first monster, who turned away and followed it to an unseen area.

Dallas didn't wait for them to be fully out of sight before bolting out of the room. He ran down the hall in a panic, reducing to a walk when he experienced more intense abdominal pains.  
When he was sure the demons were gone, he checked his ammo supply and realized he only had two bullets left. "Two bullets? I am so fucked." he moaned. If he encountered anymore monsters, he'd have to make a run for it, which wouldn't be so easy due to the incredible persistent gut pains and growing queasy feeling.

As much as he tried to ignore it, he was unsuccessful. He was about to sit down for a moment when he heard Lisa's voice drift from somewhere ahead.

"Who's out there?! I have a gun, and I WILL use it!"

"Lisa? Where are you?" he followed her voice, peering into a room ahead.

Lisa was hunched in the corner, legs drawn up against her chest, tightly clutching her gun and looking from side to side in a paranoid fashion. She looked small and scared, which was not the Lisa he was used to seeing.

"Lisa! I've been looking all over for you! Are you alright?"

"Dallas?" Lisa looked up, relief washing over her face. "I'm so glad you found me!" she jumped up and embraced him, immediately feeling much safer when he hugged her back.

"Are you okay? You aren't hurt, are you?" Dallas asked in a concerned way.

Lisa shook her head. "No, I'm fine, I was just really scared." she paused for a moment and bit her lip, like it pained her to admit that. "This place...it just overwhelmed me, so I ran in here. I was so freaked out that if anyone other than you came in, I would have shot them. I'd never been so terrified in my life, but I'm okay now. I think a better question is, are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I feel like crap. But that's the least of my worries right now, as getting out of here is our top priority."

"It might not be so easy. It's almost like this town knows me. I don't know where we are, but there's a church back there, with a mock lynching display set up. I didn't think anything of it until I saw to placards with my parent's names in that church. I just...I have this really awful suspicion that they did something terrible, something that I could have stopped. It's like this town is punishing me for something I didn't do."

"I hope I'm not offending you by asking, but are your parents racists?"

"Somewhat, yeah. But I didn't think it was this bad. I mean, they never forced their super religious, white power beliefs on me, so this might just be a case of someone or something messing with my emotions. But still, it's unsettling to think about."

"I think I know what you mean by that, the whole time I've been here, I've felt like someone or something has been watching me. Still, this place can't trap us forever, so I think we should take the chance and search for a way out."

"I agree, and if a monster appears, we'll have to bolt, I've only got two bullets left."

"Same here."

Though it took Lisa a moment to gather the courage to leave her safe area, she joined Dallas in the hall. Since they didn't want to go back the same way they came, they opted for the only other choice, a corrugated steel spiral staircase leading upward. It took them to yet another all, this one painted blood red and zig zag shaped. It was lined with doorways, and each one had the dried, stretched out skin of something tacked over it. It was unclear what type of animal they had belonged to, but neither Lisa nor Dallas really wanted to find out.

They didn't talk much as they walked, instead focusing on watching for possible threats. Thankfully, this area was blissfully free of monsters. Eventually, the sounds of active, noisy machinery drifted from ahead.

After a little while, the zig zag hall ended and opened into a cavernous room with a pedestrian bridge going across it. Several open garage doors were on the opposite wall, and each one had a heavy duty, automatic track running into it from an identical door across the room. Many cars, trucks, vans, and even a semi truck or two, hanging from chains and connected to the track with winches, advanced into the garage doors. The vehicles were all sorts of different colors and models, and some were brand new looking while others were old and beat up. Vehicles weren't the only things cruising along, as every once in a while, a fat, armless head brace wearing monster restrained in a metal chair would scroll by on the track.

Lisa continued to walk down the bridge, but Dallas called out to her. "Lisa, hold on. I don't feel so good, I want to sit down for a minute."

"What's wrong?" Lisa inquired.

Dallas slumped against the metal guardrail, and felt the unrelenting nausea intensify when he made the mistake of looking down into the seemingly bottomless abyss. He shut his eyes and leaned his head against the rail, which felt very cool against his forehead. As much as he hoped the feeling would pass, he knew it wouldn't, as it had been building for a while now. Finally, he answered Lisa's question. "I feel like I swallowed a bowling ball filled with molten lead." Not only that, but he could almost taste the acid in the very back of his throat. He shuddered and hoped he could hold off on barfing, at least until they got back to the foggy world.

"Are you-" Lisa was cut off as a heavy panting noise was heard. They both whipped around at the same time to see an extremely bizarre creature standing at the entrance to the bridge, slowly stalking towards them.

It was about eight feet tall, and very thin. Its torso and limbs seemed to be mannequin like, but its head, hands and shins were very human looking. The thing had a wide slit open mouth, a greenish substance oozed from the cracks in its filthy white torso, and it was wearing a top hat pushed down over its eyes and nailed into place with several spikes. Oddly enough, it was also wearing a pair of black boots. It quickly dropped to all fours and scuttled towards them at a surprising speed.

Lisa and Dallas shot at the monster, but due to its lanky body, thin limbs, and fast speed, only one out of four bullets connected with their target.

"I'm out of bullets!" Lisa shouted in a panic.

"Me too, just run!" Dallas said.

Not wasting another second, they sprinted down the bridge, getting a little speed boost from the adrenaline.

The monster chased after them, and the gap between the pursuer and the prey began to close.

"Its gaining on us!" Lisa exclaimed. "What are we going to do?"

Dallas looked around frantically, and spotted a very normal looking door up ahead, hanging ajar. "Through there! It won't be able to follow us!"

As if it understood what they were saying, the monster suddenly stopped in its tracks and howled in frustration, like it knew it couldn't go any further.

Upon reaching the door, Dallas yanked it open and ran through, Lisa right behind him, and crashed strait into a wall. His sudden stop caused her to barrel right into him, knocking them both to the ground.

Immediately picking herself up, Lisa spun around to slam the door shut, but was baffled to see herself staring into a storage closet. No monster, no hallways adorned with flesh, nothing. Confused, she took a look around to try and pinpoint her surroundings. The two of them appeared to be in a hospital, as she could see at least ten patient recovery rooms from where she was standing, and each room had a numbered sign near it. Upon looking out a nearby window, she saw the fog shrouded streets of Silent Hill. Except for the town being abandoned, everything looked completely normal.

"We're safe! We got out! I..I can't believe it!" she didn't know weather to laugh, cry, or both. They had escaped the nightmare realm, but since they were still in the fog world, they weren't in the clear quite yet.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually glad to see those ominous foggy streets." Lisa said. "Aren't you?" When she didn't get an answer, she turned around to see what her companion was doing.

Dallas was unsteadily walking away from her, then stopped and slightly bent over, with one hand against the wall and the other over his mouth. As soon as Lisa took a step towards him, he retched and started copiously puking all over the floor.

"Oh, right..." Due to the encounter with the tall creature, she had almost forgotten that he was feeling sick. She slunk behind him and held his hair back with one hand. "You have very soft hair." she mused.

He didn't pay any attention to her comment. Something very firm seemed to be trying to work its way up, which just made him heave harder. He felt like he was dying, as he threw up so much that each heave was beginning to hurt. In the midst of this, he heard something small and metallic hit the ground, but couldn't check it out quite yet. After a while, he was bringing up smaller amounts, and less often, but with more dry heaves in between. After what seemed like an eternity, he was finally done. He sat down and leaned against the wall with his eyes half shut, trying to regain his composure and hoping that his stomach would settle soon.

"Damn. Are you going to be okay?" Lisa inquired. She crouched down in front of him and gently caressed his shoulder. "That looked...painful." She felt bad for him, but at the same time was incredibly thankful that it hadn't happened to her.

"I'll live, just give me a few minutes." Dallas said in a slightly quavery voice. He didn't want to say much, as he felt as if his throat had been eroded.

"Let's just sit for a while. We could use a break." Lisa sat down next to him, trying to get comfortable. She waited a few minutes before speaking again. "I want to thank you again for finding me. Honestly, one more minute in that place and I think I would have lost my mind."

"Don't worry about it." Dallas said, frowning when he got a glimpse of his boots. "Great, I puked all over my own feet. I just got these boots two days ago, and now they're ruined."

Lisa chuckled. "I know the feeling, these formerly brand new pants I'm wearing are now permanently stained with dirt and monster blood. I might have some makeup remover tissues in my purse though." she rummaged through it, retrieved some and was about to hand them to him when she spotted something odd. "Uh, Dallas? What is that?" she pointed to his left.

"What is what?"

"That." She motioned to an object that was sitting in the pool of puke.

Dallas picked it up, not caring that it was wet and warm to the touch. It was a pink heart shaped object, about one inch wide. There was a small circular button on the back, and when he pressed it, a shaft and a series of prongs appeared. It seemed to be a key of some sort.

"..Uh. Okay then." he truly didn't know what to make of it. Out of all the places for a key to be located, why inside of him?

"What the hell? That came out of you? That's really weird." Lisa commented.

"Yeah." he placed the key in one of his coat pockets, zipped it shut, and leaned back against the wall.

Taking that as a sign he wanted to be left alone for a bit, Lisa reclined backwards as well. She thought about closing her eyes, but decided not to. They were safe for now, but it would only be a matter of time before that safety would be shattered.

They sat in silence for about fifteen minutes. The atmosphere here was almost tranquil, about as close to normal as Silent Hill could get. There were no hideous monsters or gun toting weirdos around, and there was the faintest beam of sunlight projecting in from a nearby window.

Lisa couldn't help but smile at this. She felt more at ease than she had been since the moment she woke up in the fog world. In fact, she almost felt safe, like there was nothing in this hospital that could harm her.  
She glanced at Dallas, who had his eyes shut. She nudged him gently, getting his attention. "Do you feel any better?"

"A little bit, yeah. Not great, but better than before."

"That's good. I don't want to move, but I think we should vacate the premises."

"I concur." Dallas forced himself to get up and looked out the window. "I think we're in a different part of town. I was so close to finding your car back there! I stumbled upon a veterinary clinic, and the impound lot is only a few blocks away from it. Of course, it's like the town knew that and forced us into that other world."

"I know. It just sucks." Lisa joined him at the window. She didn't see any familiar buildings.

Her scan of the streets was interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice. "Hey...Lisa and Dallas, right?"

Lisa turned around and saw Victoria leaning out of the room furthest from her, motioning them towards her. Completely forgetting about the window, the two of them made their way down the hall towards her room.


	4. Chapter 4: a thief among us

author's note: I appreciate the favorites and follows, but reviews would be lovely. They might also prompt me to write a little faster.

Lisa couldn't help but notice the cracks in the wall surrounding the door to Victoria's room as she walked in. A fine white powder spilled from each one. At first she assumed it was plaster, though it was far too bright, but she didn't get hung up on it.

"What brings you two here to the hospital?" Victoria inquired, walking back to the center of the room. She sat down on the bed, picked up something from the bed stand and stared at it.

"I can't even begin to explain what just happened." Lisa admitted. "You'd never believe us if we told you."

"Yeah," Dallas added, "We were sucked into this...alternate reality or something."

"Ah. You saw the otherworld." Victoria said confidently.

"You've seen it too?" Lisa asked.

"Yes. It comes and it goes, with you never knowing when. Being a place crafted from your nightmares and bad memories, it's different for everybody. Mine is cold. So very cold." Victoria explained, shuddering a bit as she spoke. "That's all I know. We're in the fog world right now, so we're somewhat safer."

"Somewhat safer? That's... good to know." Lisa sat down on an extra chair near the door.

Victoria turned to look them both over. "You guys have obviously seen better days." she commented. It was a true statement. They both had some cuts and scratches, disheveled hair and dirty clothes. Lisa's formally white tank top was coated with grime and monster blood, and Dallas had a large tear in one of his coat sleeves in addition to still having puke on his boots and the bottom of his coat.  
Taking note of that, Victoria addressed him. "The faucet in the bathroom still works, you can use it if you want."

Dallas shuffled into the bathroom to rinse his mouth out. The water was hard and full of minerals, but it tasted heavenly compared to stomach acid. He considered drinking some, but decided it probably wasn't a good idea, as the last thing he wanted was a repeat of the corridor episode.  
Lisa joined him at the sink to try and wash some of the dirt off her clothes. She straitened her pink hat, as it had been knocked sideways. Her makeup was noticeably running, so she picked up a towel and wiped off as much of it as she could.

Once they were done, they noticed Victoria looking downward at something she held. It was a small photograph, and she ran her thumb over it repeatedly. Looming over the older woman's shoulder, Lisa peered at the photograph. It was of a girl, around fourteen or fifteen years old, with a bright smile, green eyes and a head full of wavy brown hair.

"It's my daughter, Christina. Christy for short." Victoria said.

"She's pretty. She looks a lot like you." Lisa complimented.

"Thanks. It's been so long since I've seen her."

"Oh. ...Is she..."

"Dead? No, no. She's perfectly fine. She lives with my ex husband, but I haven't seen her in ages."

"How come? Don't you have joint custody?" Dallas questioned.

"I'm not allowed. I made one stupid mistake, which has haunted me every day since then. I screwed up...now I'm not allowed to see my little girl. It's been over a year." Victoria spoke with sadness evident in her voice.

Lisa and Dallas exchanged glances. They didn't want to come across as rude by asking why, but as if reading their minds, Victoria filled them in.

She leaned forward and sighed. "Cocaine is a hell of a drug. Growing up, I always told myself I wouldn't get involved in that scene, but a couple years ago I got sucked in, thus beginning my downward spiral. Long story short, I got addicted and it tore my family apart. My marriage was failing, I lost my job, and my own daughter was starting to lose trust in me. Just over a year ago, I overdosed and slipped into a coma for a few days. When I was released from the hospital, my husband was waiting for me with divorce papers. He didn't even look me in the eye, just made sure I was awake, handed me the papers and walked out. Not only that, but he got the best divorce lawyer in the state so everything would be done as quickly as possible. Not for efficiency, but so neither he nor Christy would ever have to talk to me again."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Lisa said.

"Don't be, I was a mess. I deserved it, as I did something I won't ever be able to forgive myself for. Anyway, after that I realized I had to change, or else I'd end up as some junky whore living on the streets and turning tricks in exchange for food and drugs. I checked myself into rehab, and I've been clean for almost a year now."

"That's good. You said you got another job, right? Sounds like you're on the right track to me." Dallas offered.

"Yeah, it's been just peachy. Real fuckin' peachy." Victoria said sarcastically and lit up a cigarette. "Being sober just makes me remember more."

A melancholy atmosphere settled over the room, making all three inhabitants uneasy.

"Let's talk about something else, shall we?" Lisa asked hopefully. "Victoria, I have kind of a random question for you. Did you by any chance meet a man in a bowler hat named Angelo before you first saw the otherworld?"

"I can't say I have. You guys are the first people I've seen since I came to this town."

"Okay. I was just curious."

"Angelo?" Dallas inquired.

"He was in that locked room in the apartment building, and I'm pretty damn sure he was the guy who shot at us, yet he insisted he was on our side. I just don't know, he seemed suspicious to me, that's all. The otherworld appeared less than a minute after he left." Lisa explained.

"I didn't see him, but someone sent a note into that barred room telling me how to get out. Do you think it was him?"

"It could have been."

Victoria exhaled a plume of smoke. "Well, if I see a suspicious gun wielding guy in a bowler hat, I'll let you know."

"Sorry for all the questions, but do you know where in Silent Hill we are right now? I was so close to finding Lisa's car! Then we could have gotten out of this place." Dallas said.

Victoria shook her head. "I haven't a clue. Just like you, I was brought here to the hospital by the otherworld."

"Perhaps there's a town map of some kind downstairs. It's a long shot, but I say we go for it. Care to come with us?" Lisa offered.

"Pass. I can't leave. Not until I set things right." Victoria extinguished her first cigarette on the bed stand and lit another almost immediately.

"Tell you what. We're going to look for a map and see if we can find out where we are, and we'll check up on you before we leave. How does that sound?"

"That sounds fine."

"Alright then. We'll be back in a bit."

Lisa and Dallas returned to the corridor, inspecting the other rooms in the wing. One contained two of those strange bottled health drinks, but they were once again passed over. When none of the rooms contained anything useful, they approached the set of double doors near Victoria's room.

Lisa gazed through the circular windows, which allowed her to see a stretch of the next hall. "The coast seems clear. Shall we?"

Dallas nodded and they advanced, checking out the rooms one by one. They all seemed to be devoid of items, but one stood out. The last room in wing B had a purple rug on the floor and a small blue gift box on the bed.

Lisa entered the room, failing to notice that one area of the rug dipped down before coming up again. She suddenly felt the floor give away from underneath her, and before she could properly react, she fell through, taking the rug with her as she crashed onto the floor in the room below. She landed awkwardly, and rolled onto her back, wincing in pain as she did so. "Son of a bitch!"

"Are you okay?!" Dallas asked from above.

"Yeah. That hurt, I wasn't expecting that to happen. Nothing is broken, but I'll have some bruises later." Lisa reassured him. She slowly got to her feet and looked around. This floor was dark, with the only visible light source being from the hole above her. "It sure is dark down here."

"I can barely see you. Maybe Victoria has a flashlight we could borrow."

"Good idea. I don't care if she wants to stay in her room and mope, if she has any sense she'll come with us and we can all leave together."

"Okay, I'll go ask her. Stay there, I'll be right back." With that, Dallas left.

As soon as he was gone, Lisa found herself glancing from side to side, constantly making sure she was alone. Her eyes were getting more accustomed to the darkness, so she took one cautious step into the corridor. She still couldn't see much, but the hall appeared to be clear. Through the darkness, she could faintly make out the outlines of all the doors, as well as some cheap plastic chairs and tacky mass produced paintings on the walls. She quietly padded down the hall and nudged the double doors open only for a sudden beacon of light to shine right into her eyes.

She squinted and adjusted her gaze. On a gurney, surrounded by scalpels, was a shiny red maglight flashlight. Save for the vibrant red color, it was the same kind used by the police, was about a foot long, and was very heavy duty. In a pinch, it could be used as a weapon if need be.  
Due to the light, Lisa was able to see more of her surroundings. She was no longer in a patient wing, now she seemed to be in a general check in area stocked with tables, chairs, and a dreadful magazine selection.  
A door with a sign reading STAFF ONLY was hanging slightly ajar, so she picked up the flashlight and walked towards it. She hadn't even taken two steps when soft static sounded from her phone.

Behind her, she heard something hard connect with the floor. She heard it again, then again, like somebody was stabbing the linoleum. She felt a pang of fear, since she was weaponless. Thinking fast, she clicked the flashlight off and searched for a place to hide. If she was really lucky, she might be able to make it to the staff room before whatever was approaching showed itself.

No such luck.

The stabbing sounds became louder, and Lisa knew that whatever it was, was only a few yards from her. A humanoid figure emerged from the shadows, slowly stalking forward. It was female, and clad in a filthy, stained nurse's uniform, which was buttoned all the way to the top. It had a slender feminine frame, and had a bloodstained burlap sack tied over its head with black cord. The source of the stabbing noises became apparent; the nurse was wearing white stilettos with long, sharp blades on both the toe and the heel. Its strangest feature was the addition of a third leg. It was mechanical and was built right into the nurse's lower back, where metal fused with flesh.

It stopped in the intersection, like it was waiting for Lisa to move. Being careful not to make any noise, Lisa took one step back, then another. She felt the edge of the gurney brush against her, and a scalpel clattered to the floor.

The nurse's head whipped around, and it leaned in towards her menacingly. The mechanical leg lowered to the ground and the nurse raised both of its organic ones, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It pivoted around, stretching one leg out to its full length, until it was only mere inches from Lisa's face.

She looked around frantically, trying not to panic. If she lost her cool, this homicidal psycho nurse would surely get her. Her fingers closed around a larger scalpel, and praying her plan would work, she tossed it down the hall. The second it hit the wall, the nurse pounced on it. It quickly leapt forward, extended a leg and spun around, cleaving a rift into the plaster.

Lisa used this opportunity to stealthily sneak into the staff room and shut the door as quietly as possible. She could still hear the nurse attacking the wall outside, but after a few seconds it gave up, and she heard its footsteps resume. She waited until they faded away completely before turning her flashlight back on. Shining it from corner to corner, she concluded that she was in a break room. There were several old white tables surrounded by chairs, a fridge, a sink with a dripping faucet, and a microwave that was most likely even older than her was perched on the counter. On the opposite end of the room was a large whiteboard, which took up one whole side of the wall. It had messages drawn on it, and a staff schedule and some other notices were attached via magnet.

One notice was circled with red marker, with an arrow pointing to it. Lisa removed it and read over the note:

Rachel:

There is a thief here in the hospital. Several times now, I've noticed missing pills when counting the inventory. It's not just a few pills either, entire bottles are unaccounted for. Someone has been stealing them, and I think I know who it is. It's got to be Marcos, that shady janitor that was hired several months ago. Before he was hired, we never had any drugs go missing. I've tried talking to about it, but he keeps telling me I miscounted the stock.

That's bullshit! You and I both know, I never miscount anything! It's just not fair. That damn wetback is stealing drugs, and I'M the one who gets in trouble for it! Please keep a VERY close eye on him, as I can't be watching all the time. One of these days, I'll catch that bastard in the act, then maybe the doctor will believe me.

Cindy  
Head Nurse

Lisa disregarded it and inspected the rest of the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a few packages of Twinkies laying on the counter, but she didn't dare eat one. She gave one a poke, which confirmed that it rock hard, yet free of mold due to the insane amount of preservatives. She broke them all in half just to make sure there weren't any keys inside them, as she had learned that in Silent Hill, she'd never find a key in a logical location. No keys were present, and nothing else stood out, so she examined a door on the other side of the room.  
To her surprise, it opened easily, taking her behind the reception desk. It was cluttered with papers and files in manilla envelopes, but they held no interest to her.

Lisa sat on the creaky swivel chair and pondered her next move. She didn't know the hospital's layout, and her instinct was telling her to go back to the room with the caved in ceiling. Getting lost in this place could be a death sentence, especially with homicidal nurses patrolling the hallways.

Approaching footsteps jerked her from her thoughts. It wasn't a nurse, as they sounded human, but she didn't recognize them. She knew it wasn't Dallas or Victoria, as this person wasn't wearing steel toe boots or high heels. Fearing it was Angelo, Lisa prepared herself for a confrontation.

She was relieved upon realizing it wasn't him. A man with Hispanic features, slicked back hair and clad in a jumpsuit approached from the North. He looked at her for a second, flicked some ashes off the end of his cigarette, and opened the door to the stairs.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Lisa asked, getting up.

The man turned to look at her again. "What's it to you? Are you a cop?"

"What? No! Do I look like a cop to you? I just want to talk."

"I don't think so." the man yanked open the door and bolted out of sight.

"Wait, stop!" Lisa demanded and chased after him. She leaned over the railing and saw the man going down, looking up at her as he went. "Don't run from me! I just want to ask a few questions, that's all." she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and slipped, nearly falling down the steps.

She looked over the railing again and saw the man fling open the basement door and go through. Steadying herself, she walked the rest of the way down. She couldn't risk injuring herself over something as stupid as falling down the stairs due to carelessness.

When she reached the bottom, she put her ear to the door. All was quiet, so she ever so slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the new area. As she looked around, her heart sank and she clenched her fists nervously.

She was in the hospital's morgue. The white tiled room was cavernous and had a chain link wall running down the center, dividing it into two separate rooms. Everything was filthy, as the tables and sinks were rusty and had calcium scale, and the tiles were streaked with years worth of grime. One whole wall was taken up by body storage units, and she felt the nervous feeling grow when she saw just how many there were. She didn't count, but there had to be at least fifty. Why would a hospital in a resort town need such a large morgue?  
A few of them were hanging open, but empty. Another was slightly pulled out, and she could see torn up shreds of something inside, but they were mostly obscured by the shadows.

She shined her flashlight around, catching tables, sinks, and dripping pipes, but there was no sign of the man. Despite feeling that she shouldn't, she called out, "Hello? Sir? You down here?"

As expected, no answer greeted her.

"Yeah...I should probably go." Lisa said to herself. As she turned to leave, she caught a glimpse of something between two of the autopsy tables. A gurney was parked in the isle, with a bloodstained sheet draped over it, concealing an object. It wasn't a human body, as it was way too thin. Maybe it was just part of a body, possibly a severed leg.

Lisa loomed over it, unsure of weather she wanted to know what it was. She reached towards it, but withdrew her hand right before her fingertips touched the fabric. "Nope. Not even a peek."

She took a step backward, then jumped in shock when she felt a hand connect with her shoulder. "Don't touch me! I'll...I'll hit you with this!" she whipped around and brandished her flashlight to use against the man.

"Woah, Lisa! Calm down, it's just me. I'd rather not be knocked unconscious." Dallas said, making his presence known.

Lisa relaxed immediately and released her iron grip on the flashlight. "Oh, shit.. You scared the crap out of me. Don't do that!" she scolded.

"Sorry. I thought you heard me come in."

"No, I didn't, and I'm sorry too. You told me to stay put, and I wandered off. What a good idea that turned out to be." Lisa said sarcastically.

"It's alright, but why did you come down here?"

"I saw a man, so I followed him. Why, I don't know, as he's probably not even a real person anyway. Tell me, how could I have been so stupid? This whole thing is my fault!" she slunk down, sitting beneath one of the autopsy tables.

"It's not your fault, Lisa."

"Then why am I here? I don't understand, as I've never killed anybody or anything like that. I've never been arrested, nor do I have any repressed memories or guilt. Furthermore, why are you here?"

"I don't know. I don't have any deep seeded issues either." Dallas admitted. "Maybe we're pieces in someone else's game or something. You said you saw your parent's names in that church, right?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't add up. Yes, they're kind of racist. When I was growing up, they only wanted me to have white Christian friends, but they're not on the KKK level of extreme. Even if they were members of that church, how in the world could they hide it from me for twenty six years?" Lisa put her hand to her forehead. "Other than the racist stuff, I get along great with my folks, so just thinking about it is making my head hurt."

"You'd be surprised. That kind of thing happens a lot."

"What about you? Do you think your parents are members too?"

Dallas thought for a minute before speaking. "My mom definitely isn't, as she's very accepting, but I know for a fact that my dad is homophobic. He keeps it to himself, but I know what his feelings towards gays are."

"I think it's starting to make a little more sense now..." Lisa thought out loud. "That's the link, it has to be! Our parents! This town is probably punishing US to torment them!"

"Yeah, maybe they did, or are planning to do something really atrocious, and someone found out and is trying to turn us against them as revenge. It sounds crazy, but at this point, it honestly wouldn't surprise me. Or maybe...maybe it's all a trick and our parents are here in town somewhere, in danger."

Lisa snapped her fingers. "I think you're on to something. When I first woke up in this town, I tried calling their home phone. It rang twice, then suddenly went dead. I didn't even think about it before, but now it makes so much more sense! If this town really is trying to turn us against our families, it won't work. We're going to ignore every lie it throws at us. That sound like a plan?"

"Affirmative. But...if our parents really are here somewhere, how will we know where to look?" Dallas asked.

"We're going to have to find the real world version of that church. I have a feeling we'll find some answers there. In the meantime, we need to go get Victoria and find a way out of this hospital." Lisa said finally crawled out from underneath the table. No sooner than she stood up, that same air raid siren pierced the air. "Oh, no. Not again," she moaned.

Dallas swiftly moseyed over to one of the stainless steel autopsy tables. A tray of long forgotten instruments stood beside it, and he swiped two bone saws, handing one to Lisa. "Take one of these. I have a feeling we'll need them." he almost had to shout to be heard over the siren.

It continued for several more seconds, then faded away, leaving the room deathly silent.

"Hold on a minute. Something's weird about this." Lisa warned. "Everything still looks the same."

She looked over every corner of the room, and saw nothing out of the ordinary, with the exception of the thin object on the gurney. Everything still looked as it had when she first entered the room. "I don't get it. Shouldn't the walls be bleeding?"

"Do you think it's a trick?" Dallas asked.

"I don't know," Lisa said. "There's only one way to find out." she walked over to the basement door, which was still quite mundane looking and free of blood.

The two of them stood in front of it, fully expecting something to happen. Several minutes passed, and nothing occurred. Even though it seemed safe, Lisa wasn't convinced. She extended her arm to open the door, then stopped.

"Dallas?"

"Yeah?"

"This might be kind of a stupid question, but...will you hold my hand?"

"Sure." he took her hand and squeezed it in a tight yet reassuring way.

"Thanks." Lisa cracked a small smile and opened the door.


	5. Chapter 5: Marcos the maintenance man

Lisa cautiously nudged the basement door open and glimpsed into the stairwell. Things had changed, as the steps were now nothing but awkwardly placed sheets of metal sticking out of the wall at regular intervals, and the railing was absent.

"Are we even going to be able to go up those?" Dallas inquired while eying the seemingly unstable platforms.

"I'm not sure, we'll have to test it." Lisa said and stepped onto one of the makeshift steps. It held, not creaking in the slightest. "I think we're good, these seem solid."

Dallas got on one and it held his weight as well. Due to the lack of railing, they had to ascend carefully. They tried doors as they climbed, but unsurprisingly, the doors to the first, second, and third floors were locked tightly.

Upon reaching the fourth landing, Lisa spotted a pack of handgun bullets propped against the wall. It only contained six bullets, so each of them got three. Even more surprisingly was the fact that the door opened with ease.

"That's shocking. I can't believe it wasn't locked." Lisa stated. She pushed the door open and looked both ways before proceeding. The first sight that greeted her was the reddish, fleshy walls that had sporadic sections of chain link fence over them.

Before either of them could take a single step, two figures slunk out from the darkness, the sound of stabbing accompanying them. A nurse revealed itself, and a doctor followed it. The doctor looked considerably different from the nurses, as while it also had three legs, all three of them were mechanical. It wore a white, blood stained doctor's coat, and its entire head was wrapped in moldy bandages, leaving only a mouth and several tufts of short brown hair exposed. Additionally, it had five scalpels fused to the fingertips on its right hand, and in its left, it carried a massive syringe.

"I'll take the nurse, you take the doctor. They're blind, so they haven't detected us yet," Lisa whispered.

Dallas nodded and readied his gun. Lisa did the same, and when the monstrous medical staff wandered close enough, she fired a bullet strait into the nurse's chest, knocking it down.  
The doctor took two bullets right to the chest and staggered, but didn't fall. The third bullet pierced its head, stopping it in its tracks, and as the nurse stood back up, it received two more shots, killing it. The doctor attempted to take another step, then fell to the ground where it convulsed for several seconds before going still and bleeding out.

Another nurse stepped into the corridor and sprinted towards them at a quick pace.

"Shit! Retreat!" Lisa shouted and bolted back to the stairwell with Dallas right behind her. She slammed the door right as the nurse cut a sizable rift in it.

"Okay, here's the plan. These things hunt by sound. It knows we're in here, so when we force the door open, that aught to knock it over. I'll distract it, then you stab it, slit its throat, whatever, just hurt it somehow, then I'll get it from the front." she explained.

"Sounds good. I hope these things are sharper then they look." Dallas looked over the bone saws he and Lisa were carrying.

"We'll have to make it work. Come over here and help me with the door. We'll fling it on three, okay? Get ready...one, two, three!"

On her command, the two of them flung the door open as hard as they could, causing it to collide with the nurse and send it toppling to the floor.

Once it picked itself up, Lisa called out to it. "Hey, over here!"

The nurse whipped around and stalked towards her menacingly, looking like it was going to lunge at her.

"Over here, you stupid, ugly bitch! Come get some!" Lisa taunted.

Her opponent leered at her and prepared to strike, but was caught off guard by the bone saw that was suddenly plunged into its back. It cried in agony, and Lisa used this opportunity to deal a death blow. Equipping her own saw, she leapt forward and with one slice, cut the creature's throat. It fell immediately, twitching and choking on its own blood, and its pitiful existence was ended by a hard kick to the head.

"Let's hope there aren't too many of these things, as we can't fight all of them." Dallas panted.

"I know. For now, let's try and find a way out of here." Lisa looked around.

Even with the flashlight, she couldn't see a whole lot besides the deceased medical staff. The floor was rusty corrugated metal, and there was only blackness beneath it. A set of double doors with two circular windows beckoned to her, but since they were covered in a substance that seemed to be moving on its own accord, she was hesitant to open them.

"I really don't want to touch that..." she tried to push one open using the end of her flashlight, but didn't succeed.

Dallas stared intently at the doors, seeing that Lisa was right. The slimy red strands adhered to it were flowing in several different directions. He didn't feel like touching it either, so he pushed one door in with his foot, allowing Lisa to enter.

Almost immediately, an elevator came into view. Miraculously, it worked, and the doors slid open a mere second after the down button was pressed, revealing a cage like elevator with a small fan on the ceiling.

"We need to see if Victoria is still here." Lisa pressed the button for the third floor.

Once they arrived and stepped out of the elevator, Dallas took note of a map plastered to the wall. "If the hospital's layout is still the same, we just need to take a right to get to the 3A patient wing area."

The short walk was thankfully devoid of monsters, but eerie banging and moaning sounds could be heard from somewhere.

Upon opening the doors, they were dumbfounded by the appearance of the corridor. It was illuminated in red light, and the entire hallway slowly rotated thirty degrees to the left, staying in place for several seconds before twisting and shifting to the right.

They cautiously stepped into the angled hall, immediately sliding to the right and hitting the wall. There was a filthy guard rail to hold onto, which allowed for slightly easier navigation. The alternate version of Victoria's room was open, so they positioned themselves appropriately and slid into it when the hall shifted back to the left.

Victoria herself was absent, but the picture of her daughter was sitting on the night stand.

Dallas picked it up. "Why would she leave this here?"

"I don't know, that doesn't make sense." Lisa examined the hospital bed, which was now covered in filthy sheets. A metallic gleam caught her eye, so she moved the stained pillow to reveal a four inch switchblade underneath. It had obviously been used recently, as there was semi dried blood caked onto the blade. "I wonder if this is hers too. If it is, we should give it back." Deciding to keep it for the time being, she closed it and dropped it into her purse.

Dallas nudged Lisa's shoulder to get her attention. "Look over there, on the wall. What do you make of that?"

A strange symbol was drawn in red on the wall. It was circular, with a smaller ring inside the first. Three little circles were inside the small ring, and many strange symbols, including an eye and a set of scales, took up the space between the rings.

"I've never seen it before, I have no clue what it means. I'll take a picture of it though, maybe we'll meet someone who knows." Lisa withdrew her iphone and snapped a picture.

Their search of the room done, they stepped back out into the off balance hall. A lone doctor now stood at the far end of the corridor, twitching at regular intervals, yet it couldn't follow them.

The environment had changed slightly, as streaks of blood began to flow across the floor, getting all over their feet in the process.

After getting back in the elevator, Lisa pressed the first floor button, which began their decent to the hospital lobby.

All of the tables and chairs were suspended from the ceiling by large chains, and almost every surface was crawling with the red ropey stuff. By far the most disturbing feature was the shelved collection of deformed cyclopic newborns in jars, each one lacking a nose and sporting one over sized eye in the middle of the forehead. Some had a tube like proboscis sprouting from above the eye, and a few had two pupils in the same eye.

Lisa and Dallas did their best to ignore the pickled fetuses, instead focusing on scoping out the front door. It was sealed shut by an absurdly heavy duty looking lock with seven keyholes, and seven small padlocks latched onto it. Before either of them had the chance to express their dislike of the situation, the phone at the receptionist's desk rang, startling them.

Neither one of them bothered to pick it up at first, but it continued to ring relentlessly, so Lisa approached the desk. The phone was one of those old fashioned beige keypad and cradle types, so she picked up the receiver.

"...Hello?" she asked quietly.

A pleasant sounding female voice responded. "Good evening, ma'am. I noticed you're having some difficulties."

"What? Who is this?"

"My name is Betty, and I'm here to assist you. How can I help you today?"

"Well Betty, you can start by opening the front door so we can leave."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'm not supposed to leave my station. You're going to want to talk to maintenance about that."

"Oh, really? There's a maintenance person crawling around in the ducts in this fucked up alternate hospital? Wow, I never would have guessed."

"Ma'am, I'm going to ask you to refrain from raising your voice."

"I'll shout at you all I want, you probably aren't even real! In fact, I know you aren't real, this phone isn't even plugged in! Explain that!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way. Perhaps talking to my manager would help."

"No, I don't think so."

"In that case, I'll tell him to leave you a present in room A12 to make up for your dissatisfaction with us."

"I don't care about that! I just want to open the door, don't you understand?!"

"You're going to have to talk to maintenance about that."

"Okay, fine, where can I find-" Lisa was cut off as the person on the other end hung up, giving her nothing but a dial tone. Frustrated, she slammed the receiver back into the cradle.

"Who was that?" Dallas inquired.

"A manifestation, most likely. She said we need to talk to a maintenance person to get out, and also mentioned leaving a present for us in room A12."

"What if its something terrible?"

"Then we won't pick it up. Hopefully it'll be something we can actually use."

Before leaving the lobby, Dallas examined a hard copy plaque of the first floor map. "Look Lisa, the medicine storage room is circled. That's probably a clue, especially since its in the same hall as our possibly horrible gift." He pointed to the circled area in the A1 hall.

"Good eye. I've said it before, but I don't know what I'd do without you." Lisa praised.

"Same here."

They ended their conversation and found their way to the A1 patient wing.

In addition to having living walls, this area of the hospital was extremely dark, and the ever present sounds of distorted ecstasy like moans became much louder. The rooms all had jail cell like doors, allowing them to see into each one. One room contained a corpse hanging on ropes, suspended over a circular pit, but it was so dark that neither one of them could tell if it was a man or a woman. Another room housed two crouching figures, shrouded in robes, that were facing away from each other, remaining perfectly still.

The further they advanced, the louder the noises became, though it still wasn't clear if they were orgasmic or agonized.

Lisa didn't bother looking into any of the rooms, she only glanced at the numbers on the signs. "A5, A6..."

"What the FUCK?!" Dallas recoiled upon seeing the passions occurring in A7. A nurse was bent backwards over a bed, her blouse open, breasts being groped by a doctor, who thrust into the nurse repeatedly. The doctor was being violated from behind by one of the tall slit mouthed mannequin creatures, who was getting cut by the nurse's bladed shoes. None of them were suffering, as all three creatures seemed to be moaning in pleasure and enjoying the moment intensely. A second nurse, this one with a slightly blueish skin tone, stood nearby, eagerly awaiting for her turn. In the meantime, she fondled herself to stay busy.

"Oh god. That is just wrong!" Lisa turned her head away in disgust.

"No kidding. If we find some bleach, I'll be fighting the temptation to pour it into my eyes..." Dallas exclaimed.

They were almost afraid to peek into A12 upon reaching it, but it turned out to be quite safe. The door was hanging wide open, revealing a shotgun laying on the bed. It had two shots left.

"Looks like we're going to have to do some organizing here. Between use, we have two empty handguns, two bone saws, and a shotgun. I think we'll have to drop something." Lisa said. Remembering the single bullet she found in the apartment, she added, "I've got one bullet in my purse, but I'm not sure what good one shot is going to do."

"We can each carry a pistol. How about you keep one in your purse, and I'll keep one in my coat, so you can carry both saws. I can take the shotgun, unless you want it." Dallas offered.

"Nah, you take it." Lisa said and loaded the single bullet into her gun.

"Okay." Dallas picked up the shotgun and looked it over. "I'm not going to lie, holding this feels pretty awesome."

"I'll take your word for it. Hold onto it tight, I have a feeling we're going to need it." Lisa said somewhat nervously.

Something had clearly wanted them to go to the medicine storage room at the end of the hall, and she had a sinking feeling in her gut that she wouldn't like what she found.  
Her anxiousness increased when she arrived at the storage room door and saw a handwritten note taped to it:

Okay, you thieving bastard. This is the third time this month I've had drugs go missing on my watch. I AM ON TO YOU! You know who you are, and you aren't going to get away with it anymore, I'll make sure of it!

-Cindy

Lisa shifted uncomfortably. She couldn't shake the feeling that the 'maintenance person' she had to get the key from waited just beyond the door.

"You look really nervous." Dallas commented, taking note of her posture.

"I am nervous." Lisa admitted.

"Tell you what, I'll go in first, you follow me."

Dallas opened the door and slipped in, Lisa right behind him shining the flashlight. He saw many shelves fully stocked with bulk medication containers, but nothing stood out. The silence was interrupted as one large bottle fell to the floor, rolled across the room and clunked against something. Just he was about to investigate, there was sudden movement on the other side of a shelf, followed by heavy plodding.

"What is that?" Lisa asked, alarmed.

Before she could get an answer, something smashed into the shelf, forcefully knocking it down and sending bottles of pills flying in every direction. The beast jumped into the center of the room, landing between them.

Like the doctors and nurses, it was somewhat humanoid in shape. It was about six and a half feet tall, and it had elongated arms which ended in large swollen club like appendages, and it wore a gas mask over its face, covering all of its features, save for one eye which appeared to be bleeding. A thick transparent hose connected to the front of the mask ran behind the creature, hooking up to a clear blood filled tank strapped to its back, which had six smaller hoses all going into a hole in its chest. The thing's lower half was relatively normal looking, as it wore the bottom half of a jumpsuit and work shoes. A ring with seven keys was clipped to its belt.

Lisa's eyes widened. "Oh s-" she was cut off as the thing's arm brutally pounded into her chest, knocking her off her feet and sending her hurtling into a shelf. She let out a cry of pain as her head cracked against a metal beam and she fell to the ground. Determined not to be pulverized, she crawled away, hoping she could hide from it.

Dallas felt an intense pang of fear as he pulled the trigger, only for nothing to happen. In a panic, he tried again, but the gun clicked. It was then that he finally realized the problem: the safety was still on.

The monster bounded towards him on all fours in an ape like fashion, and just as he disengaged the safety, it pounced, forcefully knocking him flat on his back.

The blow knocked the wind out of him, and he was unable to breathe for a split second. He tried to get up, but the monster loomed over him and pounded its arms down on either side of him, preventing him from moving. It raised one limb, preparing to attack.

Taking advantage of the brief window of opportunity, Dallas thrust the shotgun directly into the hole in the monster's chest and fired. It howled and backed up, teetering slightly as blood poured from the hole.

Wasting no time, he jammed the gun back into the orfice and fired the second shot, knocking both him and it back.

The monster appeared to be stunned, as it stood and convulsed, yet didn't die.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dallas saw Lisa rise up from the ground and yank on the hose connected to the monster's mask. This seemed to free it from its stunned state, as it whipped around to face her. Right as it was about to pound her back down, she raised her gun and fired her last remaining round directly into its head. The bullet pierced the monster's eye, sending blood and skull fragments spattering onto the medicine bottles, and it fell to the floor, twitching and emitting choking noises. Lisa ripped the large hose off of its mask, and Dallas smashed the end of his shotgun into its head, snuffing it for good.

Once he was sure it was dead, he snatched the key ring from the monster's belt. "I hope we don't run into anymore of these guys."

"It's unlikely." Lisa panted, coughed and briefly massed her sore head. "That thing really nailed me, but I think I'll manage. Now don't quote me on it, but I'm pretty sure that was Marcos the maintenance man."

"Who?" Dallas raised a brow in confusion.

"Earlier I found a note in the break room about a maintenance guy who was stealing drugs. He must have been the same guy I chased into the basement a while ago, and this thing must be his...true form." Lisa motioned to the bled out corpse. "Either way, let's get out of this hospital before anything else happens."

The two of them maneuvered around the slumped over body and left the room, ready to bolt to the hospital exit.

They were taken aback to see that the hospital had once again shifted back to normal. It was still fairly dark, but there weren't any living walls, preserved fetuses, or monster orgies. Everything looked just as it should.

Feeling tremendously relieved for the time being, they made their way back to the hospital's main entrance.

The multiple keyholes and seven padlocks were still present, but they were no longer coated in blood. It took about a minute for Dallas to unlock all of them. When the last lock was undone, he was able to push open the doors.

The sudden abundance of light caused both of them to squeeze their eyes shut momentarily. As the shock wore off, they walked outside and pinpointed they're location. They were currently in the hospital's courtyard.

Even though they were still in the fog world, Lisa let her guard down. "I am so glad to be outside. Although I have no idea where to go from here." she walked a few steps forward, hoping to see a directional sign of some sort.

"Aren't you going to acknowledge my presence?"

Lisa spun around and was caught off guard to see Angelo leaning against a bench, like he had been expecting them. "What are you doing here?" she asked, trying not to sound surprised.

"I was waiting for you guys." He glanced at Dallas and looked him up and down. "Ah, so you must be Dallas. Am I correct?"

Dallas nodded. "Right. Let me guess...you're Angelo."

"That's right. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Hey, you never answered my question earlier. Back in the apartments, I asked how you knew his name, but you never told me." Lisa said suspiciously.

Angelo shrugged. "Someone told me. We aren't the only ones in this town, you know." he reached into one of the pockets on his vest and withdrew a pack of cigarettes. Putting one in his mouth, he lit it and offered them both a smoke.

"Nope, I quit." Lisa said firmly.

"How about you, buddy?" Angelo extended a cigarette towards Dallas.

"Sure, I guess." Dallas said. Even though he was a casual smoker, he didn't really want to take it, but did so since he was afraid Angelo might get nasty if he and Lisa both turned down his offer. Using the fancy lighter he was handed, he lit the cigarette and took a drag. It wasn't his preferred brand, but it would make do.

"Lisa, I think you and I got off on the wrong foot. There's no reason to be averse to me, I'm on your side. I promise." Angelo said in a very unconvincing way.

"You've got a strange way of showing it. Why should I trust you?" Lisa accused.

"I've got something you'll find very useful." he produced two theme park tickets and handed them over.

"Lakeside Amusement Park?" Dallas asked. "Why should we go there?"

Lisa looked at her ticket and narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. "You know something. Spill it." she demanded.

Angelo looked surprised. "Don't go pointing fingers. I don't know anymore than you do. Someone instructed me to wait here and give you these tickets. That's the truth."

"Nope, I don't buy it. If you really are on our side, why aren't the monsters attacking you? Why do you seem unaffected by the other world?"

"Why would they? This place is my home, and I love it here. Sure, it undergoes some frequent changes, but I find it relaxing. It makes me calm and at ease. Don't you think so, Lisa?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Lisa was aghast. "I'm supposed to feel relaxed in a town full of monsters? If that's your version of a good time, I can definitely say that you are one weird guy. That's putting it lightly."

"Feel free to dismiss my opinion, but you can't change it."

"Hold on a minute here. I hate to interrupt, but who exactly told you we'd be here? Are we being watched?" Dallas asked curiously. "And before I forget, do you know anything about a cult of some kind? We saw a strange symbol in the hospital, and it looked very cult like to me."

"A cult?" Angelo looked perplexed. "I'm the wrong guy to ask, but I'm glad you did, because I do know someone who's well educated on the subject. You'll meet a man at the St. Catherine's church, he'll tell you everything you want to know."

"How are we supposed to find it?" Lisa asked.

"Easy. Just follow the church bells." Angelo assured.

"That's not very helpful." Dallas said bluntly.

"Alright. I guess we'll be going then." Lisa and Dallas started to walk away when Angelo called out to them.

"One more thing. I need to get moving along, but I advise you hurry. It will be dark soon." Content with his warning, he turned and strode away from them.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lisa mumbled. Checking out the sky, she could see that he was right. Through the fog, she could faintly see that dusk was rapidly approaching.

She started walking down the road, hearing the faint ringing of church bells in the distance.


End file.
